


Tell me what is real (I can't promise I'll believe you)

by clairechiaraclaro



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gil is a Ray of Sunshine (Disney: Descendants), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Not particularly Mal-Friendly but she comes around, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, The Isle kids care about each other and help each other damnit, Therapy, Uma and Ben friendship, United States of Auradon (Disney) Is Not Perfect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:15:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24754615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clairechiaraclaro/pseuds/clairechiaraclaro
Summary: Harry had trouble telling what was real.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Harry Hook/Uma, Jay/Carlos de Vil
Comments: 123
Kudos: 210





	1. Prologue (8)

**Author's Note:**

> So I rewatched D2 a few weeks ago, and for some reason, I kind of got stuck on the idea of mental health on both sides of the barrier, and this sort of happened. That said, this fic doesn't show any good methods of coping with mental health issues until the very end, so please be aware of that while reading. It's my first fic ever, so I hope you enjoy it!

Harry had trouble telling what was real.

It was something he’d always dealt with, just like he’d dealt with his mother’s death and he’d dealt with the hell that was the Isle. There was no rhyme or reason to it, and it wasn’t like anyone on the Isle could help, so there was no point in dwelling upon it.

One day, Harriett dragged him off the ship, claiming she wanted him to guard the pier. The alcohol in her pocket and the almost sisterly embrace tipped him off that it was something different.

“It’s an old Neverland curse,” she explained, stopping to take a swig of rum. “The place lets people go mad on their own, but with Pan’s magic, he can…direct it, I guess? After all tha’ business with the Darlings, Pan cursed Da and his whole bloodline.” She turned to him, ignoring the dim lights of Auradon in the distance. “It never happened to me, so Mum and Da figured it only worked on men.”

Harry reached for the bottle as an answer. “So I’m fucked?”

Harriett shrugged, reaching in her jacket for her own flask. “Who knows. There’s no magic on the Isle, so maybe you’ll get a milder version.”

Harry almost felt like laughing. “Not with my luck, ‘Ettie.”

Harriett did laugh, before becoming startling sober and reaching up towards him. Harry felt blood rushing through his ears, and he had to move, he was going to die, _protect yourself, enemy, rip her throat out-_

She pushed his hair back, so gently it made Harry’s throat thick with guilt. _Voices: not real_. Harriett had always known him better than he even did, she’d practically raised him, and yet he couldn’t always remember if she was safe.

“There’s medicine for it in Auradon,” Harriett continued, ignoring his spacing out, which Harry would always be so, _so_ grateful for. “Da used it before the villains were rounded-up. Murph and I are planning to make some of the docks our territory, maybe throw out Morgana if we can. Then we can get first access to the barges, check for it.”

“What’s the point?”

“Pan’s curse is a bastard, Harry. You need a way to stay in reality.” Harriett reached for her flask again. “Or one day we’ll find your body washing up on shore.”

_Real._

\----

Months later, when Hook was throwing his son into the side of the ship, Harry idly wondered what his dad saw when he was having an episode. Maybe Hook saw Pan in Harry’s eyes. Maybe his dad’s voices told him Harry was dangerous. Maybe Hook was just batshit crazy.

Hook’s boot slammed into Harry’s ribs, cutting Harry’s thoughts short as he curled into himself. Soon the stars in Harry’s vision shifted, clearing up until he could see people behind his dad. CJ. And Harriett.

They were laughing at him. Even though his hearing had faded out to nothing but a dull, throbbing ring that penetrated his bones, he knew that they were laughing at him, calling him weak, rejoicing in the fact that it was him at Hook’s mercy and not theirs. _They think you’re worthless, and you are, maybe ending it here would be a good idea_ -

Harry was pulled up onto his feet again, Hook yelling about a demon boy, but Harry could only stare over his father’s shoulder. The Hook siblings weren’t the closest of siblings, and there was definitely an ‘everyone for themselves’ theme throughout all of their interactions, but they wouldn’t…just stand there…and laugh…

Suddenly, his entire shoulder was burning, and tears bloomed in Harry’s eyes as Hook’s signature weapon finished tearing into Harry’s skin. Seemingly done with his episode, Hook dropped his grip on Harry’s coat, staring as if he didn’t recognize his son… _he probably doesn’t_ …and left.

An overwhelming wave of relief washed over Harry’s body as he leaned against the wall. Biting down his anger, Harry turned to confront his sisters – _enemies, don’t go closer, hurt them back_ – and sees nothing.

_Not…real…?_

It was a question, but with the flood of pain coursing through his body, Harry just knew – with a more startingly clarity than he’d ever known anything – that his vision of his sisters was fake, was just his mind playing tricks on him.

_Not real._

So, pain worked. Good to know.


	2. Coping (10)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, let's get the plot rolling!

Being crazy wasn’t fun, but Harry supposed it could have been worse.

At least now he could keep a grip on what was going on. Harry had gotten extremely well-practiced at subtly unsheathing the knife in his jacket’s cuff and determining how real the things around him were. And now that Harry wasn’t controlled by his visions, his reputation as crazy was actually an advantage.

That reputation had led Maleficant’s daughter to him, who was determined to have children from every major villain bend the knee to her. And, since Harriett had told Maleficant to fuck off a few years ago, this was probably Mal’s way of showing up her mother, Harry figured. _See mum?_ I _got one of the Hooks._ Like they were trophies to collect.

But that was no matter – suddenly Harry didn’t have to think too much about the world around him; he just had to follow Mal’s directions and be unhinged, all of which was fairly easy anyway. Despite Harriett’s disapproval of their partnership ( _partnership my arse Harry, it’s subservience_ ), Harry had never felt better. He was calm. He was free.

Then Mal recruited Ursula’s daughter.

Harry had no real problem with the teal-haired lass; she matched wits with Mal easily, and often improved their schemes to a level that made the rest of the Isle fear them. It was the three of them against the world, and they were determined to come up on top. Hell, Uma and Harry were closer to each other than to Mal, because despite the disagreements their parents had, Uma _knew_ Harry in a way Mal never could. Uma knew the importance of the sea, how the smell of salt in the air could make you feel alive, and how unsteady wood under your feet could create an energy like no other. What Mal made fun of, Uma understood.

But Uma was observant.

Harry could always feel her watching his movements. And when he needed _clarification_ , she was always there, eyes narrowed in a way that made Harry want to crawl into an area of his dad’s ship and disappear. It just made him more stressed, which meant more voices, which meant more clarification, which meant more observing. It was a sick, twisted cycle that would have lost Harry his sanity, if he had any left.

Then Mal slipped and fell in the water, and Uma was laughing before she was diving in to save Mal, and then Mal wanted revenge. Harry knows the facts of the Shrimpy incident. Mal dumped shrimp on Uma’s head. But that day, he saw something different.

Harry sat on the edge of a roof in the town square, where Mal told him to go, watching as Uma walked up to Mal. As the sky darkened, Harry saw the two girls talk, and then argue, _and then Mal is drawing a knife_ and Uma is running _and Uma is hurt and Uma is dying_ and everyone is laughing, including the _lying thief_ son of Jafar and _the_ _scaredy-cat, easy prey_ Cruella’s son _and Uma’s body is there on the ground..._

Subconsciously, Harry could feel his hand reaching for the knife, but his mind was too wrapped up in the horror in front of him. There was a small wave of pain, and Harry waited for the clarity, the crystal-clear clarity that would help him, that would let him understand, that would mean the tears running down his face weren’t necessary-

But it never came. 

Harry could feel more and more tears, threatening to overwhelm his sight in a way his visions never could, but he couldn’t tell, he couldn’t figure it out, and it wasn’t helping, it wasn’t it wasn’t it wasn’t…

Absentmindedly, Harry ran the knife over his wrist again, then again and again and again because he needed to _know_ , he needed to know but nothing was happening and he couldn’t tell-

“Harry, what the hell?” Mal scrunched her nose up at him. “I didn’t tell you to come down.”

Harry glanced over his surroundings, realizing that he had moved into the square, before returning his gaze to Mal. He couldn’t understand, _how was she so calm, how is she so calm when she’s stood over Uma’s body, Uma is bleeding out onto the ground and no one cares and no one’s doing anything…_

“You killed her.” His voice was hoarse, like he had been screaming _had he been screaming he couldn’t remember real or not real_ and Mal just stood there, looking at him like he was dirt on her shoe. She kept looking, and looking and looking and Harry could see her thoughts moving as she took in his state.

Mal sneered. “You really are crazy, aren’t you Hook?”

Harry could feel the ground slipping out from under him, and he could hear laughter _and he didn’t know who it was from, Mal or not Mal real or not real_ and he had to go he had to leave. _Real or not real you don’t know_ he had to find out clarity helps so he kept the knife in hand because that was _safe_ the knife is real and _no one believes you, you’re crazy end it all here because what’s worse than living like this…_

“Go away Hook!”

Harry startled out of his spiral to see that he had made his way to the narrow, winding alleys of the docks, and as usual, he had no idea how it happened. The alley was like every other one, with nettings and barrels everywhere, but among it was teal hair and salt smells and…and Uma? Uma, glaring at him, ready for a fight. “What?” she snapped. “Mal sent you to finish the job?”

“She killed you,” Harry whispered.

_Real not real real not real real not real real not real_

Uma’s expression changed, softening as she opened her mouth to speak. But it wasn’t Uma, Uma was dead and he was seeing things where’s his knife _just figure it out do it harder_ but what if she wasn’t real and what if she was-

“I’m real.”

Harry’s eyes widened ( _you said that out loud, crazy, now everyone knows_ ) and before he knew it, he was on his knees in front of her, reaching for her. His hand gently brushed her cheek, coming away damp. Blue eyes met brown, and Uma’s hand came forward. Harry tensed, waiting to hear _enemy enemy enemy_ but it never did, and Uma was cupping his chin.

“I’m real Harry.”

Uma’s words enveloped Harry, but instead of the cold clarity he’d had previously, this was a warm knowledge, a truth that was undeniable; this was the real Uma. She wasn’t dead.

_She wasn’t dead._

Harry found Uma’s hand and grasped it. She looked at him, almost inquisitively, as if he was a puzzle she couldn’t figure out. Uma relaxed, leaning back against the wall.

“So what? No more Mal?” Harry knew she was still on edge, pretending to be nonchalant, and he gladly supplied her with answers. As long as he could keep holding her, staying in her presence, knowing what was real.

“I can’t… She hurt you, for protecting her. And…she doesn’t want me. She’s got new allies.” The sustained contact with Uma helped Harry see through the fog of his memories, and as they sat there, Harry knew that Mal had moved on.

Uma pressed her mouth into a thin line. “Well fuck her then.” She stared off, and then Harry watched as her other hand grabbed his wrist. Harry followed her gaze and looked at the blood that coated his arm and jacket. Uma gently ran her hand over the skin, feelings the cuts old and new.

“What was this? Was she making you do it?”

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but found himself lost for words. So he told her everything. Everything he had seen, everything Harriett had told him, all of his attempts to stay afloat when he felt like he was drowning. Surprisingly, Uma did the same, talking about Mal and Ursula. She even told him what actually happened in the square, which Harry accepted. It was better than the alternative.

At the end of it, Harry had ended up with his head against Uma’s chest, staring off into space as she kept her shirt pressed against his wrist, because “bleeding is bad Harry,” despite the fact that he told her it had never affected him before.

“I’m not letting Mal win.” Harry turned his head to look at Uma, whose face held a determination that Harry had never seen before. “I’ll make everyone fear me. My crew will rule the Isle.”

“I’m sure you will.” Harry stared up at Uma, and knew that what she was saying was true. She would accomplish whatever she wanted. Uma smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. She ran her other hand through his hair, and all Harry could feel was safe. No voices. No visions. Just Uma.

“Will you be my right hand?”

Harry’s mouth dropped in surprise, and moved so he could stare directly at Uma. “Wha’?”

Uma shrugged. “Well, I’m going to need a first mate. Someone to back me up.”

“And that really should be someone who’s not insane.”

Uma rolled her eyes. “You’re not insane, Harry. From what you said Harriett knew, it sounds like you’re being punished for your dad, which is typical of Auradon. Besides-“ she touched Harry’s wrist, gently. “You won’t have to do this. I’ll tell you when you need to know.”

_Real._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! Leave a comment and let me know what you thought of the chapter, or what you think might happen next ;)


	3. Catching On (17)

Ben prided himself on being observant. In the royal courts of Auradon, being able to pick up on tiny details and read people’s emotions was a huge asset. Though it hadn’t helped much during his kidnapping, he reflected, it did help when watching his kidnappers.

Those skills were why he knew Harry Hook wasn’t as crazy as everyone else thought. Ben had managed to hear the tail end of Carlos’s conversation with the pirate, and clearly the VKs thought of Harry as an unhinged extension of Uma’s influence, which wasn’t entirely wrong. The two were joined at the hip. But Ben could tell when the pirates were performing. Harry loved tormenting Ben when there was a public audience, but when he had made his point, the pirate would step back, his grin turning into a neutral expression, studying Ben with an almost unnerving focus, before moving to return to Uma.

And it wasn’t just that. Ben had seen the interactions between the captain and first mate, and knew there was something going on underneath the surface. Throughout the day, Harry’s eyes would focus on something, Ben had never managed to figure out what, and it would be like the rest of the world would disappear for him. Harry’s eyes would be glassy until Uma would come, pulling him out of the trance by touching his shoulder and muttering a few words. Harry would be relieved after, or upset (and once vaguely annoyed), but he would return to what he had been doing before unbothered.

Ironically, Ben wasn’t particularly afraid of any of the pirates. Sure, the idea of drowning or being ‘hooked’ wasn’t pleasant, but the more time he spent watching the group, he was surprised by the level of care expressed between them. Especially with Gaston’s son. Despite his initial fear, Ben had seen how much Gil cared for every member of the crew, and specifically Uma and Harry. Gil even loved to sit next to Ben and ask questions about _sunshine_ , of all things.

Ben had barely gotten any sleep the night before (not that he ever got much tied to a mast). There had been yelling from almost every section of the ship, and all Ben had managed to make out was Uma’s hard voice and Harry’s distinct accent. Even when he had made out words, it was only more confusing ones like “pixie dust” and “tinctures.” There had also been sounds of things smashing and curses Ben didn’t understand (nor want to).

The aftermath of that night had led to Harry firmly planting himself at the front of the ship, resolutely ignoring those around him, a pissed-off Uma who was snapping at everyone, and an unusually quiet Gil who decided to sit near Ben. Around what Ben guessed was noon, the tense but peaceful atmosphere was interrupted, once again, by shouting.

“Uma! Kindly get your arse on deck!”

For a moment, Ben entertained the idea of it being Mal, ready to save him, but by the way Gil’s face lit up, it was not. Ben craned his neck as a tall girl hopped over the railing, dressed in a red coat with an admirable number of weapons strapped to her legs.

“'Ettie!” Gil cheered.

The girl turned, revealing frighteningly familiar brown hair pulled back by a bandana, and piercing blue eyes. She saluted Gil, smiling, before her gaze found Ben, giving him a once-over (which Ben felt she was extremely unimpressed by).

“Holy shite,” she said, deadpanned. Her words seemed to summon Uma, who stormed past Ben to stand in front of him. “Harriett,” Uma said, seemingly foregoing greetings.

Harriett nodded at Uma before vaguely gesturing at Ben. “I thought Antony was joking. Congratulations, I guess.”

“It’s a plan,” Uma said. “And one that _my crew_ will be executing.”

Harriett put her hands up as if to surrender. “Relax, I have no interest in getting involved in it.” She turned, addressing Ben directly for the first time. “No offense, your majesty, but I couldn’t give two shites ‘bout you on a good day. I’m here on family business. Uma, Harry ‘round?”

That was why she looked so familiar. She must have been Harry’s sibling.

Uma looked like Christmas had come early. “You found it?”

“Something like it.” Harriett reached into her pocket, showing off a little orange bottle with a few pills left. “It’s not the same, but it’s better than nothing.”

Uma frowned, but nodded. “He’s up on the bow.”

“Cheers.” Harriett walked off towards Harry, who seemingly hadn’t heard any of this (Ben should ask him for sleeping tips) and Uma followed. Gil stared at the three as they began to talk, but soon turned back to the ropes he was weaving.

“Gil?”

Gil’s head whipped up, akin to a golden retriever. “Yes, King Ben?”

“It’s Ben, really, just Ben.” It was something Ben reiterated every time he talked to Gil, and he hoped one day it would sink in. “What…what’s going on with Harry?”

Gil’s smile dampened a little. He fiddled with the rope, but eventually answered. “Harry’s sick. But there isn’t medicine for it, so Harriett tries to find it on the barges. But she’s really only found it once. And when it’s not good medicine, it makes him even worse. And sometimes it gets really, really bad, and Uma can’t leave him alone.”

Ben felt his stomach drop at the idea of Harry desperate for medicine, for something that could so easily be found in Auradon. And not even just having trouble finding it, but having to take potentially harmful ones just to try and have some form of treatment.

“Can you help him?”

Ben snapped out of his thoughts, turning back to stare at Gil. “I’m sorry?’

Gil looked at Ben, with a determination that Ben had not seen before. “Uma says you’re going to help us. That her plan is going to make our lives better. So will you help Harry get better?”

Ben found himself at a loss for words; the sincerity and seriousness of Gil’s request shook him. “Yes,” he found himself promising. After all, Harry was a citizen of Auradon. It was Ben’s duty to help.

\----

“Uma!”

Ben’s shout stopped the captain in her tracks. Her eyebrow raised, Uma walked towards Ben, her hand resting on her sword. “What, your highness?” In Uma’s voice, Ben doubted the title was anything but an insult.

Ben swallowed, knowing what an uncomfortable conversation it was going to be. But he pressed on. “Can you…can you tell me about Harry’s condition?”

By the way Uma froze, Ben gathered that wasn’t the best way to phrase it.

“He’s fine,” Uma bit out. “He hasn’t got any _conditions_ , or _sicknesses_. Not everyone can act happy and perfect, Beasty boy. We didn’t all grow up in Auradon.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Ben replied. _Time to go into court mode_. “Gil told me.” He took a deep breath, before bringing up his main point. “And I saw the scars, Uma.”

Uma’s eyes went straight to Harry, who was fixing the rigging up by the crow’s nest. Ben knew it was hard to see the dozens of white scars that crisscrossed Harry’s arms – the pirate’s long jacket sleeves and large silver hook worked well to hide them – but they were there. Ben watched Uma’s frown deepen, but she stayed, eventually sitting down on the deck and fixing Ben with a piercing stare. 

“It’s a Neverland curse,” Uma finally said. “You end up confusing reality and visions. It sucks.”

An understatement, Ben thought.

“There’s no treatment,” Uma continued. “Harriett remembers some medicine from years ago, but that doesn’t help. The Isle doesn’t have any doctors, so we’ve had to engineer our own solutions.”

Ben swallowed, his heart filled with guilt. “I’m sorry.”

Uma let out a sharp laugh. “Thanks, but that doesn’t do anything. You can’t help anyway.”

“That’s not true.” Ben usually didn’t like arguing, but for this situation, he was willing to make an exception. “Obviously Auradon has some ways to go to fix everything on the Isle, but it can be done. Uma please, this is obviously something you care about, we can work together-“

“Yes, this is something Auradon didn’t solve,” Uma interrupted. “But _I_ will fix it, and _I_ will make things right.” With that, Uma stood up and left.

Damn it. Not Ben’s best work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A sleep-deprived, politically-savvy Ben is my favorite Ben. Hope you enjoyed!


	4. It's Going Down

Jumping off the pier and into freezing water to get his hook back was not the smartest decision Harry had made.

Once he hit the water, the noise in his head - the noise that had been screaming during his fight with Jay - dampened. It was easy for Harry to swim deeper, to grab his hook from the depths. In retrospect, Harry should have known that meant things were only going to get worse.

Harry pushed himself up off the seabed, breaking the water’s surface with a gasp. He turned to the docks, the sounds of swords and yelling calling him as he swam back. He grabbed the edge of the pier, pulling himself up-

 _Everything is chaos._ Mal is winning _and your crew is gone they’re dying_ and Mal’s gang is running _and you’re going to lose like you always do just stay underwater it’s so much nicer isn’t it?_

_And Ben is running past with Mal, and Uma’s following, and Ben is turning and the sword and he’s hurting Uma_

_You couldn’t save her you couldn’t_

_you couldn’t_

_s_ _he’s dead again_

_and it’s your fault you’re just watching-_

“Uma!”

_Please don’t be dead, don’t be dead again somewhere where I can’t help you-_

Someone grabbed his arm, and despite the water chilling him to the bone, Harry could feel the warmth, the security, Uma was here. Uma was here.

_Uma._

Uma pulled Harry up out of the water, and without a moment to spare, Harry grabbed for Uma’s side. She wasn’t hurt, the warmth was telling him that, but he had to know…there was nothing.

“I’m fine, it wasn’t real,” she whispered, squeezing his arm in solidarity. Turning away and yelling louder for the crowd, Uma pressed forward and declared, “Mal’s mine!”

Harry grinned and drew his sword again. He’d follow her anywhere.

\----

Uma was gone.

Uma failed.

And Harry wasn’t there for her.

Harry sat on the edge of the pier, staring off past the barrier where the lights of Auradon were bright. They were probably celebrating; to them, a villain had been defeated. But all Harry felt was cold. Uma wasn’t here. He was so cold.

_Uma is gone and it’s all your fault. If you had gone with her, she would be safe, she would come back but you didn’t-_

“Harry?”

Harry didn’t move, but he could see Gil sitting down next to him on the dock. For a moment, there was just silence, the two waiting for their captain.

“You look like a raccoon,” Gil supplied.

Harry laughed, but it was empty. It was true, the makeup he wore made a very raccoon-like picture when he cried, or it was raining, and usually it was a fun addition to his image. But now Harry couldn’t care less.

“Harry?” Gil asked.

Harry sighed, knowing where this is going. “Yes, Gil?”

“Do…do you know like…what’s happening?” Gil sounded unsure, because this was always Uma’s jurisdiction, but the bright happiness of Gil’s voice was still there. “I can tell you, if you want.”

“I know, Gil.” Harry didn’t feel like mentioning that he had already taken the pills Harriett had given him, and already used the knife, and he was still hoping that somewhere, somehow, this was just a very long vision that Uma was going to pull him out of soon. “Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome!” Gil smiled. Harry zoned out as Gil kept talking, instead looking into the water, hoping, _begging,_ that Uma would come out of the water.

_That’s where you last saw Uma she swam away so she’s still in the water, you can find her you can help her and make up for failing when she needed you-_

Harry felt arms encircle him, the subtle heat pulling him away from his thoughts. It wasn’t like the warmth he felt with Uma, that was all-encompassing and gave him an understanding he usually didn’t have, but it was nice. Harry reached his gloved hand to clasp Gil’s.

“I miss her.” It was barely a whisper, but once Harry spoke it felt like he had shouted it across the docks. It almost felt like a betrayal; Uma had spent so much time helping him not appear weak, and at least seem a little independent, and less than two hours after she’d left, he was falling apart.

“She’ll come back.” Gil’s naiveté, which usually grated on Harry’s nerves, was oddly comforting now. “We just have to manage until she does.”

Manage. Harry could do that.

_Not real._

\----

Two days after Cotillion, Ben was holed up in his office, head buried in medical textbooks that he had found in the royal library the day before. While he enjoyed the extra sense of security that came with the VKs and increased guards since the whole ‘Uma did a love spell on you and transformed into a cecaelia’ thing, he was ecstatic for some time alone. Maybe he could get a nap in later.

Someone knocked on the door.

Ben bit down a curse, closed the textbook, and smiled. “Come in.”

Fairy Godmother bounced in (Ben wasn’t exaggerating – how did this woman have so much energy?), a bright smile on her face. “Hello, my lovely. How are you doing?”

Ben relaxed a little; FG had known him since he was in diapers, and hence, interacting with her involved a lot less pomp and circumstance than with anyone else. “I’m good, really. Mal ended up going to the spa with Evie for the day, and Jay and Carlos are helping Lonnie settle into her captain position.” His heart swelled with pride for his friends and their accomplishments, particularly Lonnie, who had been fighting against stupid gender rules for what seemed like their whole lives.

“Well, that’s good,” FG danced over the room before sitting across from Ben’s desk. “But I was actually coming to talk about you, love.”

Ben raised his eyebrow, silently cursing whoever told FG about the idea of being ‘open for communication.’ “Yes? I already did a session with Jiminy this morning.”

“Oh, and I’m sure he was lovely, but this isn’t about how you’re coping, Ben.” FG looked around, almost conspiratorially, before leaning forward. “The palace librarian told me that you had checked out a book on Neverland curses?”

Ah. That.

“Ben,” FG said, “you know you can tell me anything, love. We’re just worried about you.”

Ben sighed, but pushed the book towards FG. He figured that at this point, it would be best to lay all his cards on the table. “When I was on the Isle, I met one of the villain kids who seemed to suffer from those curses. I wanted to know the treatments.”

“Oh,” FG paused. “A Hook child?”

“How did you know?” Ben asked.

“It was…an item of concern when the Isle was being built,” FG explained. “Several of us were worried about how…how the curse and the barrier would interact, and what the effects would be without adequate medication.”

Ben stared at FG, mouth agape. “So, the Council considered this? They knew they were imprisoning someone _with a curse that makes them mentally unstable_ , and decided to continue without supplying any kind of support?”

FG shifted in her seat, looking uncomfortable. “It wasn’t a time where the kingdoms were equipped to be distributing medication across the barrier, not when magic is part of the medication’s formula in the first place. It took a long time before Auradon was even able to send the barges across, so it was always a work in progress…”

“Of course it was,” Ben muttered. He put his head in his hands, trying to think of a plan of action. “Thank you, Fairy Godmother. That’ll be all.”

It was the closest Ben would get to slamming the door in someone’s face, but FG didn’t seem to be offended, just smiling softly and floating out of the office. Ben groaned, standing up just to get out of his damn seat for a moment, trying to think himself out of this mess. Each Isle resident would need a mental health evaluation, which would require having licensed therapists visit the residents…there would need to be guards for those people…and everyone crossing the barrier would require more monitoring…

Ben sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned against the wall. _One step at a time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter, or the story as a whole so far. Until next time!
> 
> :)


	5. Enduring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably my favorite chapter that I've written so far. It's definitely the longest! Three new POVs on the Isle, and on how life goes on.

Harriett heard someone climbing through the window of her cabin. Barely waking up, Harriett grabbed for the knife strapped underneath her bedframe, rolled off her bed and tackled the intruder to the ground, pulling the knife to their neck.

She opened her eyes to see her younger brother staring back at her in shock.

“For fuck’s sake Harry!” Harriett growled, moving off of Harry and pulling him up to his feet. “I could ‘ave killed you!”

Harriett sheathed her knife and closed her cabin’s door before she woke up anyone else. She turned back, prepared to give Harry an intense lecture about privacy, but when she fully saw him, she found herself at a loss for words. Harry had his eyes fixed on the ground, fidgeting with the edge of his coat like he always did when he was little. “Sorry ‘Ettie,” he murmured.

Harriett’s heart softened a little, and she squeezed Harry’s shoulder as she directed him to the bed – she could see the bags under his eyes, even through the heavy makeup. Harry didn’t protest, he just lay down and stared up at the ceiling.

“It’s a’ight,” she said. “Just knock next time; the whole crew knows you’re welcome here.”

Harry nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“How are you doing?” It was a stupid question, but Harriett figured she might as well ask. “Have the pills been working?”

“They’re fine,” Harry said. “I haven’t done anything bad, if that’s wha’ you mean.”

“I mean it’s been a month Harry, and the only update I’ve gotten is you sneaking through my window.”

Harry glared at Harriett, which meant she only glared at him harder. If it was a game of waiting, she knew she could outlast Harry’s barely-there patience any day. Sure enough, Harry soon dropped his glare in favor of just staring off into space, clearly lost in thought.

“It’s hard, Uma’s job,” Harry confessed. “What took her an hour takes me a day. I’m always busy.”

So that was it, Harriett thought. Being shot up into the captain’s position so suddenly, while still reeling from the loss of Uma. Harriett couldn’t relate, but she could sympathize. She reached into the small drawer she had and pulled out an apple she’d scored in the square the other day. She passed it to Harry, who looked at it with an almost ravenous hunger before devouring it.

“How do you do it, ‘Ettie?” he asked between bites of apple.

“I dunno…it’s just something I’ve always done, Harry. I was four and I had to take care of you, and then I was helping with Da’s crew’s kids, and it morphed into being captain. It’s just a checklist I go through every day.”

Harry slumped down further in the bed; clearly that wasn’t the answer he wanted. “It’s bloody awful. I-I can’t deal with everyone depending on me, not when I can barely take care of myself.”

“That’s why captains have first mates, Harry. Do you honestly think I could do all of this without Big Murph helping? Or Sammy Smee? We have other people so we can delegate.”

“And I could do that with Uma making the decisions; how am _I_ supposed to make them?”

“You just have to, Harry. Yes, it’s going to suck, and yes, you’re gonna make a few mistakes, but it’s a learning process. No one expects you to be perfect.”

Harry snorted. “No, they just expect me to be crazy.”

Harriett frowned. Yes, she had seen the effects the Neverland curse had had on her brother, and what the entire Isle said about him, but it was disheartening to hear him repeat so much of it. “Well they can all piss off, Harry. You just need to take care of your crew. Have Gil and Jonas help, and we can talk. We’ll deal with it.”

Harry nodded, but looked at Harriett with a wistful expression. “Do you think Uma’s coming back?”

 _Fucking hell_. “I don’t know Harry. Hopefully she’s just had trouble crossing the barrier. But until then, in all seriousness, you need to learn to cope without her. Don’t use that bloody knife again, but use the pills, even fucking ask us. You don’t need to be on top of the world, but you need to survive.”

In her own mind, Harriett prayed that Harry would get a hold of himself. She didn’t want to see him spiral, because that would certainly be worse than anything else she had seen on this damned rock.

\----

Being a first mate was weird, Gil thought. It wasn’t too different from being a second mate, in terms of duties and responsibilities, but it was an adjustment to suddenly have everyone expect you to know what was going on in the captain’s head.

Gil didn’t know anything about what was going on in Harry’s head.

So instead of guessing Harry’s thoughts, Gil decided he would focus on just helping the crew, which is what he had done anyway as second. He’d just answer to one person instead of two. And besides, soon King Ben would come back and help everyone, so Gil would just keep it business as usual until Uma could come back and Harry could get better. It had been a few months, and Gil thought they were doing okay.

What really made Gil happy was seeing Harry step into the captain role. Harry had been very upfront about the bad job he was going to do (Gil refused to repeat how Harry had actually worded it), but Gil had seen the pirate take on every challenge with a furious determination that Gil knew would have made Uma proud. Harry had kept the ship in tip-top shape, and had made sure the younger crew all had safe spaces to sleep in. Hell, Harry had even managed to create and manage a schedule for working at the restaurant, despite the fact Harry couldn’t do math and Gil thought shifts were scary.

They had had to call in Jonas, and Harriett, who were both extremely displeased to be there, but did eventually help.

So all in all, Gil was proud, and had taken to randomly telling Harry he was doing a good job in the hopes of increasing his friend’s confidence. Harry never believed him – to be honest, Gil had gotten the impression that Harry thought Gil’s compliments were visions – but that only spurred Gil’s mission on further. He chose to just randomly start talking to Harry, knowing that Harry would tune it out, and so then Gil could freely praise his friend and hope that it stuck somewhere.

One day, Harry was trying to go over the sales books for the restaurant (keyword there trying), so Gil decided to just start listing people and Gil’s opinions of them. It would be a long list of things Harry probably didn’t care about, but would provide a bit of mental de-stressing.

“…and I don’t really have anything against Carlos, aside from the fact that we’re not supposed to like him because Uma doesn’t like Mal. He once fixed my dad’s axe when I broke it, which was really nice of him since Dad was super mad. I needed it done for a hunting trip Dad was taking the next day, and Carlos promised he would have it ready, and he did. On TV Carlos and King Ben are friends, Harry, so I think that means King Ben will be really good at keeping _his_ promises-“

“What?”

Gil turned to look at Harry, who looked both confused and aggravated, though Gil attributed the latter to the math he had been doing. “Yes Harry?”

“Wha’ are you on about Gil, what promises did Beasty Boy make?”

Gil smiled. “King Ben promised me that he was going to work with Uma and make our lives better!”

Harry scowled, which made Gil stop smiling.

“Gil…” Harry spoke slowly, in the tone he used when he was explaining something he thought should be obvious to Gil, “whatever the King promised isn’t happening. He would’ve said anything so that he could escape.”

“No,” Gil protested. “He asked about you, and he was concerned. And he said he would help you. Like, with the medicine you need!”

Harry rolled his eyes, muttering Gaelic under his breath. “Ben does not give a shite about us. He definitely hasn’t tried to deliver meds, or anything like that. Ask ‘Ettie – there’s nothing new on the barges. Auradon promises mean bloody crap, just like Isle ones.”

Gil didn’t understand…sure not many people kept promises on the Isle, but King Ben lived in Auradon…and he had explained it to King Ben, why it was so important…

“Oh.”

Harry sighed, shoving the books aside. He reached across the counter and patted Gil’s arm. “Sorry, love. But I’ll survive.”

Gil nodded, but he wasn’t happy about it. Harry, deciding that his comforting was done, made his way out of the restaurant with a quick call for Gil to come back to the ship before nightfall.

Gil walked home a few hours later, lost in thought. It wasn’t fair. Harry was always so sad when he didn’t know what was going on, and Gil had really thought that King Ben would make it better. But he didn’t. Gil understood why Uma was always so angry at Auradon now, because he could feel the small pulses of anger building up in him. _It wasn’t fair_. Uma was right, Auradon could shove it where the sun didn’t shine (a phrase which confused Gil, because to him that just meant that Auradon was moving more things to the Isle). If Auradon wasn’t going to help Harry, then Gil would.

As Gil made his way towards _The Lost Revenge_ , a plan was forming in his mind.

\----

Harriett’s ship creeped the fuck out of Jonas. It wasn’t like Uma’s, which was full of energy and not happiness, but something pretty damn close to it. _The Jolly Roger_ was just like its captain; harsh and cunning and cold. Despite the somewhat friendly relationship Jonas had with the oldest Hook, walking into her territory highlighted just how different her crew was.

 _They’re all people who remember what it was like before the Isle_ , Jonas reminded himself. _They’re at liberty to be a little pissy._

“Who goes there?’

Jonas stared up at the gangway, where Big Murph was guarding that night. The pirate seemed stressed, which really highlighted the state of the entire Isle tonight, Jonas thought.

“Hullo, Murph. I’m looking for Harriett.”

“She’s below deck.”

“…Can I see her?”

Big Murph looked Jonas up and down, considering, before moving to the side of the gangway and gesturing. “She’s in her cabin; fourth on the left.”

Jonas nodded his thanks, and made his way down into the belly of the ship. When he reached the right door, he knocked and waited. A few moments later, the door swung open, revealing a Harriett without her bandana and with a rather annoyed expression.

“Jonas?”

“Hi Harriett. I’m looking for Harry? He missed his shift at the diner, and Desiree was freaking out.”

Harriett swung the door back further, showing Harry asleep in the bed. The poor boy looked completely out of it, his limbs spread everywhere and his head lolled on his shoulder. “He passed out while we were talking through some things. I didn’t realize it was that big a deal; when he’s not with you he’s usually with me.”

Jonas fixed Harriet with a look. “We’ve already had one captain disappear on us.”

“Fair enough. Well, come in, if you want.”

Jonas did, observing the room; there wasn’t much, but the piece of paper on Harriett’s table was familiar; the damn announcement that had put every Isle citizen on edge.

“You thinking of applying?”

Harriet cocked an eyebrow, leaning back against the wall. “To Mal’s charity program of bringing more of us to Auradon? Absolutely fucking not.” She sighed, looking up at the ceiling. “God, Harry and I were discussing what to tell our crews all day.”

“Is your crew interested?” Jonas asked.

Harriett scoffed. “My entire crew is over eighteen, Jonas. We know we’re not going anywhere. Any other time I wouldn’t even have bothered to think about it, but between Harry and I, we control half of the Isle. People are going to want to know what we think.”

“And what do you think?”

“Honestly? It’ll be Mal’s pet project. But Dizzy told Antony that Evie was running it, so who knows.”

Silently, Jonas agreed. When he saw the fliers, he could immediately think of twenty kids he wanted to fill out applications for, but he also knew that it would be unlikely that any of Uma’s crew would even be considered. It was a frustrating, tantalizing idea: the hope of better futures, and the reality of Isle divides and nepotism.

“Rum?” Jonas looked up to see Harriett offering up a bottle. He nodded, still thinking about the program as Harriett filled two glasses up to the brim, and quietly thanked her when she handed one to him. He sipped at it – good alcohol was hard to come by, and he knew Harriett guarded her stock closely, so he was going to make this last – and was surprised to see Harriet downing the glass in one go. Must be serious.

Harriet sighed, placing the glass on the table. “Harry and I agreed; we’ll tell our crews to apply for anyone they think has a chance. My crew has their own kids to think about, and you’ve got all the ones you give food and shelter to. I already wrote them for the Smee twins.”

Jonas whipped his head around to the captain, mouth open in surprise. “Wait, really? They love you and Harry. And do you think Smee would let them leave?”

Harriett nodded. “Aye. Smee and I talked it through, and I asked Sammy, and we think it’s the best option.” Her hands curled into fists. “They shouldn’t have to grow up like we did.”

“No. No one should.” Jonas took another swig of rum, his gaze drifting to Harry, who was _still_ asleep, despite the fairly loud conversation near him. “Harriett…do you think we should send in one for Harry? To like, see if he could get treatment?”

Harriett’s face was set in a stony frown, her eyes burning with fury. “If I thought,” she said, her voice quiet but steady and hard, “that there would be a chance in hell that Auradon would care, I would have filled out an application already. But they don’t.”

Jonas nodded. “Okay.” He grabbed the rum, topping off both him and Harriett. He raised his glass, miming a toast. “Fuck Auradon, then.”

Harriett raised her glass in turn, clinking it against Jonas’s. “Fuck Auradon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of the new chapter, or the whole work. Until next time! 😊


	6. Disbelief

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this fic has now reached D3, I just thought I'd warn everyone and say that I'm playing fast and loose with the third movie's canon - the general plot will remain the same, but I'll be changing key elements and maintaining my current characterization of the characters. And Huma will be canon, because I want it to be.

“We have to close the barrier. Forever.”

Ben stared at Mal, eyes winded and mouth open. No. No. _No._

But Beast and Belle were agreeing, nodding their heads and looking relieved. Mal, at least, looked like she was still upset over the decision, her eyes unfocused and her mouth downturned into a frown. But Ben couldn’t just agree.

“We-we can’t,” he protested. “There are still so many kids on the Isle. And there needs to be more measures…we can’t leave them living like that.”

“I know, Ben.” Mal was curling in on herself, bringing her arms up. Ben knew she did that when she was trying to protect herself. “But I can’t think of anything else that would protect Auradon.”

“Then we figure it out,” Ben snapped. Mal and his parents looked taken aback at his sudden anger, but Ben was running on three hours of sleep and Hades nearly escaping from the Isle, so he was done. He pinched his nose, taking a deep breath to calm down. “Mal, I know you’re trying to do the right thing. But I don’t think that’s it.”

"Then what do you suggest?” Mal asked.

“We find the scepter. We deal with the problems in Auradon, and then we fix the ones on the Isle.”

Beast coughed. Ben and Mal’s heads turned to the former King, who finally stepped forward. “As nice of an idea as that is, Ben, we need a more immediate plan of action. Until we can be sure helping the Isle will not compromise Auradon, Mal’s idea is the right one.”

Ben wanted to hit something. No. What he _really_ wanted to remind his father that Auradon had dumped mentally ill people onto a fricking Isle away from help or civilization, and when presented with the opportunity to make it right, Auradon was once again leaping at the chance to do nothing.

“Fine,” he spit out. “But closing the barrier is the last resort. The _last_ resort.”

\----

For the life of him, Harry couldn’t understand why Gil was so focused on causing mischief. Harry wasn’t opposed to it, in fact, he had often encouraged the older boy to do so, but Gil had never seemed interested. But suddenly, Gil was determined to wreak havoc. Gil’s plans had led the two all over the Isle, and once caused Harry to miss sending off the Smee twins (which Harriet gave them hell for, and Harry was pissed about for days – he loved those boys).

Some of it, Harry agreed with – especially stealing Jay’s motorbike, that was bloody funny, and the son of Jafar deserved it. But not even ten minutes after, Gil had essentially commanded Harry to ditch the bike and help him spy on Mal’s gang by the pier. Then it got even worse, because Gil _fucking shoved Harry through the open barrier_.

Harry stumbled, trying to catch himself but instead had to focus on covering his ears, because _damn it why were the voices this loud, they’d never been this loud before-_

And Jay and Gil were arguing, and Jay was standing protectively in front of Carlos and _Mal is coming closer Mal is an enemy protect Gil_ and Evie is yelling at everyone and then all Harry can hear is the voices, _and Mal’s hand is reaching forward_ and the voices are yelling _the ember get it away away away GET IT AWAY_ so Harry knocked it aside and it was going in the water and something’s coming to get it and

Uma.

_Uma._

Uma!

Everyone else stopped too, staring in shock, so Harry didn’t think he was seeing something. It was Uma, in all her glory, but he honestly didn’t know and _it’s probably not real because Uma left you because you’re not worth it_ and before he knew it Harry was grabbing for his knife _you haven’t used it in so long, weak, helpless disappointment_ and he was cutting and there was clarity, he wasn’t having a vision…

And then Uma was in front of him, not in her cecaelia form but really in front of him, and she’s laughing and making fun of Mal…her braids were new. Harry’s eyes focused on the way the braids framed her face, making her eyes stand out even more…his hand reached out, not quite touching Uma, but Harry was desperate, he just wanted Uma, the warmth and the understanding and the safety that came with Uma, the one he didn’t get when she was gone, _the one you don’t deserve because you couldn’t help her-_

Uma’s hand wrapped around his wrist, and the warmth was back, and Harry could feel his knees giving out _because Uma is back Uma is back_ because Harry didn’t have to guess anymore, he knew he knew he knew.

_Uma._

“I’m so sorry.” Uma’s voice was quiet, almost pressed into Harry’s shoulder, but it was there. “I’ve been trying to get back. I’m real. I promise.”

“I know,” Harry breathed back. Uma smelled like the sea, and it was intoxicating; there was nothing more important than Uma, and the direction she was pulling him in.

“We’re allying with Mal,” Uma murmured, her hand on Harry’s hook. “We help, she moves the barrier. One of Auradon’s finest went to the dark side, it seems.”

Harry snorted at that; of course they did.

But it didn’t matter.

Uma was here.

\----

Uma was ready to pitch a fit at Mal’s suggestion to split up. She had been back with her boys for two hours, and Little Miss Purple wanted to change that? _I think the fuck not._ But Harry had told her it was okay, that he would be fine with Gil, and Gil was busy looking at fruit, so Uma grudgingly agreed. Covering more ground, as much as she hated to admit it, was a good plan. But it left Uma on her own with Mal’s gang, so Uma was justified in being pissy about it.

Evie had continued her _very much self-appointed_ role of peacemaker, rotating through topics that she thought would foster agreement. Uma didn’t pay much attention, tuning in and out of Evie’s ramblings in favor of surveying the landscape. _Auradon is pretty, that’s for sure_ …Uma tuned back in to the conversation to see Evie staring at her, with an honestly uncomfortable level of excitement and expectation.

“What, blueberry?”

Evie didn’t even look perturbed by the nickname, she just kept smiling. “I said you and Mal could talk about your boyfriends!”

“I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Evie’s smile fell, turning into a poised frown ( _geez, does this girl ever look out of place_ ) of disbelief. “No! You and Harry have been together for ages!”

Uma fixed Evie with a matching look of disbelief. “No, we haven’t.”

Mal scoffed, and Uma could feel her fists clenching as an automatic reaction. “Did I say something?” Uma hissed.

Mal turned around, her eyebrow raised, in that stupid expression that meant Mal thought she knew better, the one Uma wanted to punch. “Do you honestly expect us to believe that Harry, who worships the ground you walk on, isn’t in love with you?”

 _Yes_.

“That…that’s not what you think.” _Harry’s actions are based on gratitude, not adoration_. “I’m captain. He’s first mate.”

Even _Celia_ laughed at that. “Yeah, right!”

\----

Audrey let out another shriek of anger; it wasn’t fair. The villains hated Mal, people had said that, so all Audrey had had to do was wait for the villains to destroy each other, and then she could emerge from the ashes. But that wasn’t happening. They were friendly, they were joking!

No. She could do this. She just had to make them scared. When they were scared, she could play with them.

She could win.

_…the queen of mean…_

\----

The whole situation with Audrey’s magic hadn’t ended too badly; hell, Uma was even willing to admit that Mal and her were a good team. But seeing Harry stride up to Evie’s house, fully safe and sound, was the best feeling Uma had had in a while; for seven years the two had always been by each other’s side, and these last six months without Harry had been awful.

The two embraced, and Uma used the time to check over her first mate. Nothing seemed too out of place, but Uma had noticed that since leaving the Isle, Harry was seeming to have more episodes, and that worried her.

Vaguely, Uma could remember a fight once between Harriett and Harry, one that had occurred the night of Cotillion. Harry had been desperate to go with Uma, to protect her and be by her side. Harriett had gone mental, and between the thick accents and shouted Gaelic, Uma had heard Harriett saying that without the dampening effect of the barrier, Harry would get much, much worse.

It was partly the reason Uma had stayed away so long. Because maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t try to wreck the barrier, because then Harry would be safe. But the other Isle residents wouldn’t be. _Harry or the Isle._

Uma didn’t know why it was such a hard choice. She couldn’t make up her mind. And then thankfully, the choice was taken from her when Harry and Gil crossed over. Then there was Mal, agreeing to tear down the barrier, and once she did that, Uma could track down whatever ingredients she needed to help Harry. _Why choose one option when you could force both._

As they were all walking to Sleeping Beauty’s cottage, Uma felt a hand on her arm. Instinctively, she gripped the knife on her belt, but it was just Ben.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

The two walked a few more paces in comfortable silence before Ben cleared his throat and spoke again.

“I…I think Harry’s getting worse.”

Uma’s lips pressed together in a thin line as she kicked the rocks in her path. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Harry, who was walking with Gil in front of her. His feet were stable, like he was sure of what was around him, but Uma knew from personal experience how quickly that could change.

“It’s the magic,” she confessed. The irony of this was not lost on her, that she was readily supplying information Ben had tried to get out of her before. _A lot changes in six months._ “The curse is magic, so the barrier dampened it. But out here…it’s a free for all.”

Ben nodded, and Uma could see the cogs turning in his head. “If…when all of this is over Uma, I know the medicine. Or the treatments, if Harry’s opposed to medicine. We can make it better.”

“Good.”

“It must be hard,” Ben said, staring at Uma with that piercing Auradon innocence that made her intimately uncomfortable, “to watch this happen to someone you love.”

Uma stopped in her tracks and stared at Ben, mouth agape. _What was it with Auradonians saying things like that?_ “I’m not in love with Harry.”

Ben at least had the decency to look offended. “Oh, right, sorry, Mal keeps telling me that Isle kids don’t like that word.”

“That’s not the proble-“

“It’s okay.” Ben put his hand on Uma’s shoulder, and then immediately took it off when she glared at him. “I just…you look at him like I look at Mal.”

Uma could only watch, her mouth open to protest as Ben winked – _had the audacity to fucking wink_ – and jogged to catch up with Mal.


	7. Falling Apart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short...I've started my online university courses, which take up a lot of time. But I will stick to my regular update schedule, and might try to get another chapter out before Saturday!

Uma wanted to kill someone. Preferably Mal. _The barrier’s not coming down my ass it isn’t._

“I _knew_ this was a mistake,” she hissed. “You’re just out for yourself.”

“I-I..” Mal looked lost for words. “It wasn’t something I wanted, okay? I just…I didn’t know what to do. I was trying to protect…”

Uma had already stopped listening, instead letting Evie take over. Uma turned around, prepared to get her crew and book it, and her heart just broke.

Harry looked devastated. To anyone else he would look angry, but Uma knew him better than anyone else. His whole body was shaking, and his hand kept twitching upward, grabbing for his knife. Uma wanted to cry and scream at the same time, because she so desperately wanted to tell him that it wasn’t real. But she couldn’t.

“Let’s go Harry.” Uma didn’t bother to listen to Ben’s protests about “options,” she just grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled. Harry’s eyes met hers, and Uma knew that that was the worst possible thing she could do, because now Harry knew that this was really happening and there was fucking nothing they could do.

When they were far enough away from Mal and her insipid little do-gooders, Uma pulled Harry closer, wrapping her arm around him the best she could. Harry’s breath started hitching, in the absolutely crushing way it did when he was trying not to cry. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “We’ll work something out.”

Harry didn’t even reply, just threading his fingers through hers. Uma squeezed his hand. “C’mon; let’s go get Gil.”

\----

Audrey was giddy with glee. Why did she even need to create a plan, when Mal could ruin everything so spectacularly herself? The purple bitch truly had a talent for screwing everything up. Turning all of Mal’s friends to stone was just an added bonus. A really, really big bonus.

What was even better was Mal’s face when Audrey appeared in front of her. “What’s wrong?” Audrey pouted, even though inside she couldn’t stop smiling.

“Audrey, undo the spells, now!” Mal even stomped her foot, like a toddler.

Audrey let her grin appear. “No, I don’t think I will. Doesn’t it feel awful, Mal, when someone ruins your life?”

Mal’s eyes glowed green in anger, and she opened her mouth as if to start chanting. _No. You will not defeat me._ Audrey leveled her scepter in return.

_…it’s finally my turn…_

\----

The walk back to Gil was quiet. Uma had honestly never seen Harry this quiet. It was unnerving. The two had made their way back through the forest and past the school. Hand in hand, they stepped out into the clearing.

Uma froze in shock when she saw Mal and Audrey battling it out. The two were throwing spells at each other in a frenzy, and by the looks of it, Audrey was winning.

_I can walk away. It’s not my fight._

“Damn it,” Uma cursed, pulling her necklace out from her jacket and storming forward. “Harry, stay back there!”

\----

Audrey snarled at the daughter of Ursula as she joined the fight. Audrey directed a blast of the scepter at Uma, but the girl dodged it. Uma started chanting, but Audrey could feel the scepter telling her the counter-curse. Audrey couldn’t help but giggle. This wouldn’t be too difficult.

Audrey muttered the spell she wanted under her breath; this would be a nice way to take the blue-haired girl out of the equation. Only Audrey would end up victorious.

_…the ruler of the dark and the bad…_

But as she was moving the staff, she could see Uma’s pirate running up, shouting at Uma to move, his eyes wide in panic. Uma didn’t seem to have noticed yet, and that made Audrey smile.

_I think it’s time for you to stop being a distraction, Harry Hook…_

Audrey moved her scepter a fraction to the left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of the chapter, or the whole work. Until next time! 😊


	8. Broken Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating early!
> 
> Also, please be aware - this chapter contains a suicide attempt, one that the rest of the fic mentions fairly often (though it's just mentions of the attempt, nothing in detail). I've updated the tags, but if you don't feel comfortable about this topic, I'd recommend skipping this chapter.

Harry was blasted back into the forest from the force of Audrey’s spell, slamming into one of the trees. His vision gave out for a moment as he tried to collect himself, because he needed to get back to Uma, he needed to protect Uma.

He pushed himself onto his knees, his breath coming out in jagged gasps. His hook was gone ­– _fuck where is it_ – and reaching around him wasn’t helpful, where was it-

Harry froze as he felt the tip of his hook pressed into his throat. Slowly, he put his hands in the air ( _don’t surrender, coward, weak, fight back_ ) and raised his head. Staring at him, with the coldest expression he had ever seen, was Uma.

“Uma…”

Uma tilted her head, looking at him in an almost inquisitive way. “You know, I never understood why I bothered with you.”

Harry jolted back, feeling like the air had been knocked out of his lungs. He reached forward, trying to touch her, to be with her, because this couldn’t be real, she couldn’t be there in front of him, if he could just know the truth…

But Uma moved back, still holding his hook. Harry let his arm fall to his side.

“I mean, you were always more of a burden than a help,” Uma continued, Harry’s heart breaking with every word. “I had to take care of you.” Her brown eyes, devoid of any of the warmth that they usually had, looked Harry over in a way that made him feel raw. “You can’t even tell what’s going on now, can you?”

The harsh, biting laugh startled Harry further. He knew, he knew, this wasn’t real, it wasn’t it wasn’t, it couldn’t be, because…because it couldn’t…

Harry reached again, and managed to grab Uma’s hand, just for one moment, before she tore it from his grip. Harry could feel the tears burning, because touching Uma didn’t change anything, there wasn’t any warmth, there wasn’t any understanding, he felt like the world was tearing itself apart around him. There was rain and there was wind, from which direction he couldn’t tell, but it was there, plastering his hair to his skin and pushing him back, away from Uma.

_desperate_

_weak_

_can’t even understand what is going on_

_pathetic_

“You can’t even protect me!”

Uma’s scream drew Harry towards her, trying, he had to get to her he had to. He struggled forward, because now Uma was screaming, terrified, and Harry had to fight, he had to save her...

Vines began wrapping around Harry’s arms, pulling him back. Harry fought against it, but he only got more tangled, _no no no_ he had to get back to Uma, Uma-

Despite his struggle, Harry couldn’t do anything but watch as Uma kept turning, her arms raised like she was trying to fight, but couldn’t see her opponent. She was scared, she was upset, and Harry couldn’t get free, he couldn’t get to her.

_coward_

_useless_

_worthless_

_she’s going to die_

_and it’s going to be_

_all_

_your_

_fault_

and then Uma was hurt, Audrey was standing over her with the scepter, and Uma was crying, _oh god Uma was crying_ and Harry still couldn’t move…

“Harry! Harry please, I need you, I’m sorry, Harry!”

Harry raged against the vines, Uma’s cries spurring him on, and he managed, the vines disappearing suddenly as if they were never there ( _were they there at all you can’t tell you can’t help_ ) and Harry bolted towards Uma, and Audrey was gone but Uma was hurt.

He tumbled down, holding Uma in his arms. Her jacket was a mess of blood, so much that Harry couldn’t even see the injury. Her breath was coming out in short, pained gasps, her hands reaching up to clasp Harry’s.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” Harry sobbed, pulling her closer to him. “You’re hurt Uma, you’re hurt and I couldn’t help you I’m so, so sorry…please don’t leave me, I’m sorry…I’ll do better I’m sorry…”

“Shh.” Uma gripped his hand harder, drawing his gaze to her face. She looked so perfect, so powerful even like this. Harry could feel the lump in his throat, the tears making tracks down his face, competing with the rain.

“It’s okay,” she said, her eyes serious and wide and staring directly into his. “I never expected you to save me.” She stared up at the sky, going still.

Harry went light-headed. His heart was pounding, the blood was roaring through his ears, and his head was screaming, no no no no no no no _no_ this couldn’t happen, Uma wasn’t dead, she couldn’t be dead this wasn’t real-

This wasn’t – this wasn’t real.

Harry scrambled for his knife, because then he would know, he was right and this wasn’t real and Uma would be there alive and happy and there would be the warmth and he would know, he would be okay.

He ran the knife over his wrist, and almost cried at the clarity that was setting in, the coldness that took him out of his mind and into reality. He opened his eyes again

and Uma’s body was still there, still unmoving. But the coldness was there, the clarity, so he wasn’t seeing something how how wasn’t it it couldn’t be Uma couldn’t really be dead.

Harry kept running the knife over his wrist, but nothing was changing. His eyes stared dead ahead, asking and begging but nothing was changing.

_She’s dead, and it was_

_all_

_your_

_fault_

_you didn’t help her_

_you didn’t save her_

_so you should be punished_

_punished because you failed_

_and you should join her_

_because maybe you’ll protect her there_

_but you won’t_

_so punish_

_punish_

_PUNISH_

_BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT_

Harry cut upward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to always be finishing my chapters on cliffhangers...sorry not sorry? Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of this chapter, or the whole work. Until next time! 😊


	9. Deeper and Deeper

Uma was ecstatic when the ember worked again. With that power, they were able to defeat Audrey, and Mal and Uma even embraced afterward. They’d done it!

“Are you okay?” Mal asked, looking Uma up and down, but not in the way that made Uma angry; there was only concern on Mal’s face.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” Uma was breathless, still running on the high of victory, her smile bursting. “That was amazing, wasn’t it Harry?”

There was silence.

Uma turned around, frowning. “Harry?”

“Did he move?” Mal asked.

“I’m not sure,” Uma confessed. “I told him to stay here, but maybe with all of the magic…” She thought of the spell she had written down once, when she thought it would be useful. “ _Of my first mate I’ve lost track,_ _show me a way to get him back._ ”

A bright blue wave of magic appeared, creating a line into the forest.

“Nice,” Mal said, impressed. Uma grinned. The two began walking in comfortable silence, following the trail.

“Hey, Uma…” Mal began hesitantly, but seemed to gain confidence when Uma didn’t speak up. “I’m sorry. About everything. The Shrimpy incident, not thinking about the rest of the Isle when we turned good…and thinking that closing the barrier forever was the best decision. I screwed up. It wasn’t. And I’m sorry. And I promise, I’ll make sure that every Isle kid who wants to come across can.”

“Thanks.” Uma knew how hard it would be for Mal to admit something like that.

“And I want you to come help Ben and I,” Mal blurted out.

Uma raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“You have, like, really good ideas. And you always knew more about the Isle’s needs than I did.”

“Oh…well, yeah. I’d like that.” Uma noticed that they had reached the end of the magic, and looked around. “Harry? Where exactly did you-“

Her voice vanished when she saw Harry, unconscious. He was curled inward, like he was trying to protect himself, and his knife was out, _that knife that Uma hated so much_. As she ran to him, dropping to her knees, Uma took in the blood pooling around her first mate, there was so much, no wonder he was deathly pale, where was it coming from-

_No_

Uma reached for Harry’s arm, begging that what she thought was true wasn’t. Tears welled in her eyes as she took in the cuts, all in varying sizes and directions, but the worst, god the worst one was so long, so deep, fuck fuck fuck

“Harry!” she screamed, even though she knew it was pointless. She glanced up at Mal, who was stood frozen in shock.

“Get help! Please! Oh my god, Harry! _Harry_!”

\----

Uma had been in a _hospital_ for twenty minutes, and she already hated it. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to create a building for people to _die_ in.

She was curled up in one of the chairs in the waiting room, her knees pulled up into her chest. Gil was pacing in front of her; ever since Mal had explained what had happened – because Uma couldn’t repeat it – he had been a bundle of nerves and energy, moving constantly in the small space, which hadn’t made anyone any less anxious. Jay and Carlos were embracing each other, Carlos’s head on Jay’s shoulder, Evie was sitting statue-still and staring off into space. Mal was contemplative, and kept fidgeting. Ben looked upset; Uma had heard him mutter something to Mal about “knowing it could get this bad,” but she honestly didn’t care right now. She wanted Harry. The doctors hadn’t let her come into the rooms, which was bullshit, so she had to just sit. And wait. Another thing she hated.

At the sound of footsteps entering the room, Uma’s head shot up, ready to interrogate whatever doctor tried to explain things to her. But instead of a doctor, it was that fairy girl – Jane, her mind supplied – the dumbass that had been Audrey’s plaything, and the guy Evie had kissed.

“Sorry, my mom and I just finished talking with Audrey’s doctors,” Jane explained, breathless and yet still peppy, which Uma didn’t understand. “The scepter drained a lot from her-“

“Anything about Harry?” Uma interrupted.

Jane at least had the decency to look embarrassed at forgetting which of the two were in critical care. “No, they’re still operating. Apparently, his curse affects what kinds of medication they can use.”

The waiting room fell into an uncomfortable silence again. Uma reached for the bracelet on her wrist, but she touched bare skin. Right. She had lost the bracelet in the sea. Harry had given it to her on her birthday, years ago. It had been a shock, that he had managed to find enough blue beads for one bracelet – but there was, of course, one red bead. When Harry had shown her the inverse bracelet on his wrist, she had laughed, but loved it – it spoke to their relationship so well.

She’d played with the bracelet whenever she wanted something to occupy her mind. Now she didn’t even have that. She just had to sit and think. She wasn't even aware of time passing - it could have been three hours or three seconds. Her mind was occupied, running through the memory of finding Harry over and over, kicking herself for not finding him sooner.

“Excuse me?”

Uma’s head shot up again, now staring at the man in the waiting room. He didn’t look like a doctor – he was wearing a sweater vest and a jacket with elbow patches. Still, he stood with a certain level of comfortableness, like he was here often.

Ben looked pleased, jumping up to stand. “Hi! Jiminy!”

 _The cricket_? Uma thought.

The man smiled, shaking Ben’s hand and pushing his wire-framed glasses up his nose. “Hello, your Highness.”

Ben returned the shake, before turning to Uma. “Uma, this is Jiminy. He does most of the therapy work at this hospital.”

Uma couldn’t think of anything to say that wasn’t incredibly stupid, but luckily, Gil beat her to it.

“You’re a cricket,” he said.

Jiminy, for his part, seemed amused. “Yes, I was for a long time. But a lot of us animals have changed to humans nowadays, to fit into the modern world.”

Gil seemed satisfied with that explanation, so Uma cut in. “How is Harry?”

Jiminy turned his small smile to her, and Uma hated how comforting it was. Nothing should be making her feel better. “He’s okay,” Jiminy said softly. “The doctors think that he’ll have some trouble with his hand movements, because of how deep the cuts went, but other than that, there’ll be no more physical effects.”

Uma didn’t miss a beat. “And the mental.”

“Yes, well…that’s a different story. The curse is obviously quite developed. And unfortunately, there’s no cure for something like this, there’s only a possibility of treatment, which will be difficult considering that he’s been untreated for the majority of his life, though Ben did tell me about some attempts at medication. There is a fairly standard medication we give to those with Neverland curses, but it’s usually started young. But still, we’ll try that with Harry, and it should stem a lot of the visions. And then there’ll also be psychotherapy, some counseling until we can determine any improved mental states-“

“Can I see him?”

Jiminy looked a little surprised to be interrupted, but quickly adapted. “Yes. But the operation required some powerful sedatives, and combined with the exhaustion and malnutrition that seems to come with the Isle, he’ll most likely be asleep for a few days, at least.”

“Doesn’t matter. Lead the way please.”

The “please” took all of Uma’s politeness, and she could feel her patient waning even thinner. Luckily for Jiminy, he started walking immediately. Uma stood up to follow, Gil close behind.

“Uma?” Ben asked.

She knew what he wanted, but she didn’t want to deal with anyone right now. “Just Gil and me.”

With that, she marched on, following Jiminy through white, clerical hallways that made her head hurt, turning corners in ways she truly would not remember, until finally, Jiminy stopped at a door. “I’ll give you some time alone,” he said, squeezing Uma’s shoulder before walking away.

Uma didn’t even care; she just stood, frozen, staring at the door. It was just a wooden door; there was a little plaque with the number 131 on it, and underneath, the name _Harry Hook_ written under it in neat handwriting. It was such a simple barrier – she had kicked down doors before – but now it was unbeatable. An arm moved past her, and she was so, _so_ thankful to Gil when he opened it.

She walked in, quietly, careful, and desolate when she took in the room. It was very Auradon – pastel blue walls, a big window, and flowers. The bed took up most of the space, along with all the machines beeping.

In the middle of all of it was Harry, so unbelievably still against the white sheets. His arms were bandaged up to his elbows, his dark hair pushed back against the pillow. He looked so small…he didn’t even look like Harry. There was no red jacket, no makeup, no rings and belts and bandanas. The only thing they had kept was the anchor around his neck, a small silver pendant his mother owned that Harry had threaded black cord through to wear. There was a tube in his arm, attached to a clear bag that Uma assumed was important.

Wordlessly, Gil touched Uma’s shoulders and directed her to the chair by Harry’s bed. Uma reached towards Harry’s hand, gently holding his in hers.

\----

Hours later, Ben knocked on the door to Harry’s hospital room. He heard a quiet “come in,” and swung the door open. Uma was alone in the chair next to the bed; Gil must have gone to get food. She’d moved her hand to her lap as Ben had walked in, and he chose not to address the fact that she’s been holding Harry’s.

“Hey,” he said softly. “How are you doing?”

“Great,” Uma replied.

Ben chuckled at the sarcasm, but quickly sobered upon seeing Harry so lifeless. Ben had read that severe episodes of the Neverland curse could lead to suicidal inclinations, but he had never thought Harry would get to that point…he should have reacted sooner. He should have done something.

“He’ll be okay.” Ben didn’t know who he was saying it to, himself or Uma, but he felt like it had to be said.

“He’s somewhere where he can get help,” Uma supplied. Uma looked up at Ben. “Um…is there a way we can open the barrier? For me to go back?”

Ben was taken aback. “Sorry, what? Uma, you want to go back?”

Uma nodded. “My crew needs me, and if you want to help the Isle, you’ll need someone on that side. And besides…” she turned to look at Harry. “Someone should tell his sisters what’s happening.”

“But…are you planning to stay there? Uma, Harry probably can’t go back to the Isle, it could create just as bad an episode.”

Ben felt his heart drop as Uma kept nodding. “I know, Ben. But Harry…he has what he needs here. He’ll be okay. The others…they need me more than he will.”

“Actually…” both Ben and Uma jumped, turning to see Mal in the doorway. Mal swallowed, clearly nervous, before continuing. “I was thinking…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought about the chapter, or the whole story! Until next time 😊


	10. Better

In the end, Mal's plan for taking the barrier down was fairly anticlimactic.

Between Uma and Mal’s crew, they’d created a list of villains who shouldn’t be redeemed, and Ben had had the dwarfs convert an abandoned building into a habitable prison. With the help of Fairy Godmother’s magic wand, those villains had been transported, and with Mal’s all clear, they’d taken the barrier down. Most of Auradon and the Isle had celebrated a new era that night.

But despite the fact that the goal Uma had been striving for for years had been completed, it seemed pointless and empty now. She couldn't even enjoy seeing the permanent bridge come up, because it was followed by her crew, and Harriett and CJ, and Uma had found herself lost for words again, staring at the ground as Gil explained the situation. Surrounded by the masses, Uma slipped away back to the hospital.

After leaving the building once, to tell Jonas the plan for the future, Uma kept herself isolated in Harry’s hospital room. It had been two days, and aside from the nurses coming in for checkups, nothing had changed. Gil, Harriett, CJ and other members of the two crews had been in and out, but they were all busy trying to adjust. Harriett had announced her plan to get a Navy job, to try to support her siblings, and had been busy in talks with Prince Eric (she also apparently had a shouting match with the grandson of Michael Darling, who had objected to her joining, which Uma kind of wished she had seen).

Everyone was tense, just trying their best to continue life as they waited for news. Isle kids hated waiting.

Uma was curled up in the chair next to the bed, reading a book Ben had lent her on Auradonian policy. She’d agreed to act as an ‘ambassador’ for the Isle, and officially, she refused to be uninformed. Unofficially, she needed something to occupy herself while she waited. At this point, the slow, constant beeping of Harry’s heart monitor acted as a source of comfort for Uma as she went about her day, helping her focus.

She was so focused on her book that she missed the small noises in the room; the shifting of sheets, the deeper breaths, and the sound of the bed moving. She still poured over the pages of her book, one after the other until-

“Uma?”

Uma dropped her book at the sound of the quiet voice. Moving her stiff muscles out of the position they’d been in for the last hour, she turned to see Harry staring at her. Before her mind could even think about moving, she was jumping onto the bed, throwing her arms around Harry’s neck and hugging him as hard as she could.

“I missed you,” she whispered, her eyes already watering. Harry wasn’t reacting, wasn’t reaching his arms up like he always did, so she let go, pushing herself onto her knees. “Harry? Are you okay?”

Harry wasn’t meeting her eyes, instead choosing to stare down at the top of the comforter that he was fidgeting with.

“I’m okay,” he murmured. “You don’t have to waste time on me anymore.”

Uma sat back; the surprise was clear on her face. “Harry what are you talking about?”

Harry just sunk further into his bed, curling his arms around himself. “You told me the truth. You knew I was worthless, and you knew I wouldn’t save you.”

Uma felt her heart ache at the pain in Harry’s voice. What he was saying was awful, and he said it with such conviction. She knew she had never said anything of those things, but he clearly thought so.

“Harry…” Uma reached for his hand, but Harry pulled back, and Uma felt tears threatening to spill. “Harry that’s not true, I promise. You are not worthless. You have saved me on countless occasions. I’m here right now, aren’t I?”

She put her hand on the bed, a neutral position, and watched Harry study her, looking for injuries. Slowly, he moved his hand, hesitantly reaching towards her. Uma stayed still, not moving, waiting for Harry to move first. His hand brushed lightly against her ribs, looking for something, Uma didn’t know what, but he didn’t seem to find it. He stared at her in wonder, his eyes wide, before glancing down at the bandages along his wrist. Harry always looked so much younger without the makeup around his eyes, and with the pout that he did whenever he was confused and angry about it, Uma really just wanted to wrap him in her arms.

“Uma…” Harry moved his head up to look at her. “What did I do?”

Uma rearranged herself so that Harry was lying against her, the same way they had ended up all those years ago. “You got spelled, really badly, Harry. It was a spell that made you see your worst fears. You thought it was a vision, and so when your usual method didn’t work, and you thought what you were seeing was real, you panicked and you hurt yourself.”

She sat there in silence as Harry took in the information she’d just told him. He was running his fingers over the bandages, up and down and up and down the cuts. It made Uma intimately uncomfortable, and she was so happy the hospital had confiscated his weapons.

“I couldn’t save you,” Harry said. “And you were…” Harry’s breath was hitching again, and Uma wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t expect Harry to lean into her, which made it all the more surprising when Harry moved so that he could hug her too, his breaths coming in deep, aching sobs.

“You were gone, and nothing was _working_ , I thought it was all real, and then the voices just kept talking and _yelling_ and they said I deserved it so I thought if I did it if I punished myself then I’d be with you again-“

“Hey, hey, Harry.” Uma pulled his head into her shoulder as Harry cried harder. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You were spelled. You weren’t in control. And we’re in Auradon now. They said they’ve got the right medication, and they’re going to help you. There’s even something called a therapist, who makes you talk about everything and supposedly that helps. And I’ll be here the whole time, and so will Harriett, and Gil, and hell, even Ben.”

“How’s tha’ gonna work Uma, we’re on the other side of a bloody barrier,” Harry mumbled into her shoulder.

Uma smiled, because she knew this would be the best news Harry had ever had. “Well, actually...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of this chapter, or the work as a whole! Until next time 😊


	11. Recovery

Being on medication, the right medication, was one of the oddest experiences of Harry’s life. It wasn’t like the pills Harriett had given him on the Isle, that made the voices go completely silent and put him more on edge than he’d been without the meds, or the ones that made his visions worse and made him think of swearing off drugs forever.

The stuff the doctors had given him, that they’d sworn up and down was _meant_ to treat the curse he had, that medication was surreal. There were no more visions, none. It didn’t vanquish the voices, merely dampening them, making them quieter than they’d been even on the Isle, but it was still helpful. And the real kicker, that made Harry think that he was in a dream, was that the medication provided _clarity_. Yes, he heard the voices, telling him to hurt and kill and fight, but he no longer felt compelled to obey the voices, to listen to them. It was nice. It was weird.

He’d be staying in the hospital for at least the next three weeks or so, the doctors had told him, first because they wanted to watch him (which made Harry stressed) and second to determine the extent of future treatment (which made Harry feel safe). He wasn’t lonely – honestly, he felt like he was getting smothered. He was barely allowed to leave the bed, despite numerous arguments with the nurses about how he had survived much worse than this, and everyone he talked to agreed with the nurses, which was infuriating.

He got a lot of visits, which was nice. Uma was almost always around in some way or another, whether it was her direct presence or one of the crew. Harriett and CJ came by too, though not as frequently. CJ was busy with Auradon Prep, and Harriett had started working full-time in the Navy (she’d also shoved a Darling descendant off a pier during a training exercise, which had put the Hook siblings in a good mood for days). But today, the doctors were just doing check-ups, and it was a weekday, so Harry was alone with his thoughts. _Joy_.

It had taken about twenty minutes for Harry to rip the edge of his bedsheets into strips and start prepping them the way he did rope on _The Lost Revenge_. It was a task Harry had always volunteered for, simply because he could shut his head up and focus. He wasn’t particularly aware of time passing; he tied the strands together in a reef knot before working on braiding the strands together, one over the other on repeat. Like so many other things he’d experienced in Auradon, it was nice.

Bit by bit, Harry felt himself pulling out of his quiet headspace. As he became more and more aware of his surroundings, he sensed someone there, watching him. It couldn’t be any of the crew; they would just barge in and start talking, and it wouldn’t be any of the people in the hospital, because they were intimately aware of how Harry liked knowing who was near him. So it was someone who hadn’t met him. Probably an Auradonian.

 _Fight, kill them, make them fear you,_ the voices whispered.

 _Shut up_ , Harry snapped.

Still working the strips through the braiding, Harry raised his head, and honestly couldn’t stop himself from look surprised. “Hi,” he said.

Audrey Rose looked back at him, her expression reminding Harry of a startled kitten. Her hair had changed back into limp brown curls that hung around her shoulders. She wasn’t in any impressive, princess-y outfits, instead wearing sweatpants and a big cardigan. Her arms were clutched against her chest and her eyes were big and wide, tears clinging around her waterline – and considering the redness and puffiness of her eyes, she’d been crying for a while.

“Hi,” Audrey breathed back.

They stared at each other for a few more moments, before Harry turned back to his ‘rope’ and kept braiding. He could do this with his eyes closed, so he kept his hands busy and his mind focused on the girl in his doorway. She was slowly stepping closer and closer to him, hesitant and scared. Not of him though; it was like she was scared _for_ him.

“I’m sorry,” she blurted out.

Harry kept braiding; it seemed to make Audrey more comfortable, not having his attention focused on her. “It’s a’ight. Uma told me how you got enchanted by the scepter.”

“B-but…” Audrey’s voice kept getting higher. “I-I just wanted an apology from Mal, I didn’t want to hurt anyone else…and when Jane told me I’d made someone…do, that, I never wanted it…”

Audrey was on the verge of hysteria. Harry reached for his box of tissues on the side table and offered it to the princess. She took one look at the tissues and burst into tears. Harry frowned, confused at why the tissues, of all things, would set Audrey off. He looked down, and realized he’d shown his arm.

They’d taken off the bandages ages ago, and the stitches had been taken out too, so Harry had gotten used to the massive ugly red scar up his arm, accompanied by the other faded ones. It wasn’t pretty, but Harry had been doing it for years, so it wasn’t anything new. He supposed it would be shocking for an Auradonian.

“I never meant to hurt anyone, I-I made you do that, I’m so sorry…“

Audrey was full on crying now, still standing at the edge of Harry’s bed. It made him uncomfortable, because no one cried on the Isle if they could help it. Amidst all the sounds of Audrey just breaking down, Harry reached down towards the edge of his bed and ripped up more of the sheets. Audrey’s crying paused as he handed the strips to her, before undoing his to lay them out straight. He cleared his throat.

“This is how you make a clove hitch knot.” Harry started going through the motions, surprised when Audrey actually started following his instructions. The two went through the motions, silent aside from a few sniffles from Audrey and Harry’s quiet corrections. They made the knots, and then Harry undid them all and gestured for Audrey to go again.

“I don’t blame you, for it,” Harry said. Audrey’s movements stopped for a moment, but resumed when he pushed her hands to continue before he kept talking. “Yeah the spell fucked me over, an’ you think you’re a villain because of it. Villains don’t think about other people, so you’re already not one. You didn’t tell me to cut myself; I’ve been doing that for years because on the Isle it’s how I dealt with…the curse. And now I get to re-train myself out of that. You’ve apologized; I’ve accepted. Now we’re going to tie knots together.”

Audrey sniffled again, but gave Harry a small smile. “Okay.”

The two finished their knots in comfortable silence, before showing them to each other. Audrey’s was sloppy by Harry’s standards, but it was good for her second try, and Harry told her as much.

“Thanks,” Audrey said, smiling. She glanced around a little before leaning in conspiratorially. “Can I _please_ teach you how to use eyeliner properly? I don’t remember much from…the scepter, but I do remember the raccoon eyes.”

Harry’s grin widened, and he leaned in just as conspiratorially. “Joke’s on you, princess. I apply Uma’s eyeliner for her.”

Audrey gasped in shock. “The raccoon eyes are a _choice_?! No, absolutely not!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I don't really ship Harry and Audrey romantically. But as a dramatic, makeup-loving friendship? Yes please.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of this chapter, or the whole story. Until next time! 😊


	12. Ride With the Tide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick disclaimer: all medical information/psychotherapy babble/tattoo information is based on my research, and while I found reputable sources, I have no idea how much of it is accurate. So please don't follow any of said information without checking its credibility :) 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Harry sat down in a chair covered with blankets and pillows, across from the Jiminy person Uma said was a therapist. Jiminy was sitting in a leather chair, with a small notebook in his lap. He looked smart, Harry supposed.

“So, Harry, welcome to your first therapy session,” Jiminy began, smiling. Harry didn’t smile back, but Jiminy didn’t seem upset. “As your first, it’s not going to be of much help. I’m going to ask you some questions, get to know you and your history. Thanks to the information your sister has provided, we don’t have to focus on a diagnosis. So we can just talk about coping techniques, how you balance your life with medication, ideas for the future.”

Harry nodded, fiddling with his anchor pendant. “Okay.”

The room fell silent for a moment, before Jiminy cleared his throat and glanced at his notes. “Right! So, do you mind talking about how you dealt with this on the Isle, or would you like to do something else?”

 _Leave_. For once, Harry agreed with the voices. But he took a breath, sat up and started talking.

“…I did a lot of things,” Harry said. “When I was a kid, I got hurt during a vision, and the pain distracted me from it. That lead to the knife. You know how that ended. But it worked better than anything else, so I kept doing it. ‘Ettie, she’s the one who told you about the curse, she remembered what meds our Da used, so when she found ones she thought would help she gave them to me. Sometimes they did. Usually they didn’t.” Harry fiddled with his hands. “Which is why I stuck with the knife. And Uma.”

Jiminy nodded. “Yes, having friends to support us is often a big advantage. Did she do anything in particular that really helped? Something you’d ask her to maybe continue with here in Auradon?”

“Nothing really,” Harry replied. “When I’m around her I understand, and I’m warm. It’s what she does.”

“How did she help you understand?”

“She just did. If I was touching her, I knew what was happening.”

Jiminy scanned his notes. “Yes. Your medicine, Harry, is made with a couple of magical ingredients, but importantly, it’s infused together by Atlantian magic. Uma has that, so it was probably an effect her residual abilities have.”

“Cool.” Harry didn’t really care for an explanation; even if Uma wasn’t responsible for his understanding, he still would have stayed with her. Their relationship was stronger than that.

“The warmth is odd though. I’ve never heard of that as an effect. Can we talk more about it?”

“S’not anything special. When I’m around Uma, it’s safe. I feel warm. I’m happy; as happy as I can get, I guess.”

“Interesting. Harry, that doesn’t sound like any kind of magic. That sounds like a feeling.”

“I just said I feel warm around her.”

“That’s not what I mean. It seems like these are things you feel for Uma. You care about her.”

“Of course I do. She’s my captain.”

“And if you don’t mind me saying Harry, the feelings you’re describing – happiness, warmth, safety – Auradon doesn’t describe it as that kind of relationship. Auradon would describe it as love.”

Harry stared at Jiminy. The therapist was quiet, simply smiling at him.

“Can we talk about something else?”

Harry thought Jiminy would be disappointed, but he didn’t seem to be. “Yes, absolutely Harry. We’re here to talk about what you want.”

\----

“Ouch! Gil that bloody hurts!” Harry tried to yank his hand away, but Gil kept his grip firm around Harry’s wrist.

“Harry,” Gil began, using the tone Harriett used when she was mothering him, “you have to do these exercises. The sheet says otherwise you’ll have impaired function in your hands and wrists.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I know, I know, but does it have to hurt so much?”

Gil frowned, as if Harry’s complaint was a serious question, and turned to read over the sheet the doctors had given Harry. Since being in Auradon, Gil had begun reading everything he could get his hands on. Gil had also appointed himself the coordinator of Harry’s physical therapy, and eagerly read any information available.

“According to the sheet, you severely cut through your median nerve, which runs through your thumb, index, and middle finger,” Gil read aloud. “The reconstruction the doctors did helped, but you have to practice holding things so that you don’t permanently lose your ability to move your wrist and fingers.” Gil looked up back to Harry, beaming at him. “So let me put your hand in the shape…”

Harry let Gil pull Harry’s hand into his lap. Gil scanned the instructions before slowly pushing Harry’s fingers into the shape of a fist.

“So maybe…” Gil poked his tongue out in between his teeth, like he always did when he was thinking. “Maybe think of someone you really hate and try to make a tighter fist?”

Harry thought about a few things, and worked to close his fist. He managed for a little bit before it hurt too much and he had to release it, cursing under his breath.

“That’s good!” Gil cheered. “That’s way better than you did last time!”

Harry smiled, but he couldn’t match Gil’s enthusiasm. “Aye.”

“It’ll be fine,” Gil told him. “The doctors said you’ll have a hard time for the first couple of months, but if you keep practicing then you’ll be able to have a much larger range of movement.”

Harry nodded, and the room lapsed into silence. Harry kept moving his fingers as much as he could, but stopped when Gil started running his fingers over the scar on Harry’s arm.

“I was really scared,” Gil said quietly. “I wasn’t there to help you, and I heard what happened from Mal, of all people. Uma was falling apart, so I tried to just support her, but you weren’t waking up. Everyone was being hopeful, but I just felt this thing in my gut that said maybe this time I hadn’t helped you enough and you were going to die. And it was going to be my fault, because I was the one who took you outside the barrier in the first place.”

Tears were falling down Gil’s face, and Harry could feel his heart aching for his friend. Harry moved to wrap his arms around Gil, hugging him firmly. It was hard with the way the two were sitting on the hospital bed, but Harry managed.

“It wouldn’t have been your fault Gil. You saved me. Who knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t done that. It was a big help. You’ve always helped me Gil,” Harry said softly. “More than you’ll ever know. I have another chance now, and I swear, I’ll always be there for you.”

Gil wrapped his arms around Harry, squeezing hard before moving away, wiping his eyes. “Sorry. I know you don’t like hugs.”

“S’all right,” Harry said. “Hey – do you want to help me guilt the nurse into giving us grapes?”

Gil frowned, thinking hard for a moment. “Which fruit is that again?”

“The wee green ones, Gil.”

“Oooh! Yes please!”

\----

“Dude, your sister is going to kill me.”

Harry huffed. “Don’t be ridiculous Jonas, you’ll be fine.”

Jonas anxiously looked to his left, where Harriett was indeed watching him with hawk-eyed focus. She shrugged, leaning further on the windowsill.

“I don’t bloody know,” she said. “I don’t object, and the only problem the doctors had was pain, which Harry’s okay with, so like, sure, what the hell. I’m here for the agreed-upon adult supervision.”

“Exactly!” Harry cried. “We’re all good with it, so let’s get started!”

Jonas groaned, pulling the bag he’d brought up onto Harry’s hospital bed. “Alright; but I want her support of this noted for all future issues.” He pointed at Harriett, as if they needed to specify who he was talking about.

Harriet rolled her eyes. “You have it, Jonas, fucking hell.”

“Right then, calm down.” Jonas started tossing equipment out of the bag. “I’ve prepped the stencil, so I’ll put in on, and then we can go from there.”

It took hours, and several loud curses from both Jonas and Harry whenever the needles went near the still-red scar. Despite the amount of time, Harry didn’t feel tired or worn out; he was happy in Auradon, and between the three of them, him, Harriett, and Jonas kept themselves entertained. One of the nurses, who was related to the Potts family, had brought ice cream for them to try, which had been a huge experience. It had actually been a fairly good day.

As Jonas was finishing up, a knock on the door had Harry raising his head, erupting into a smile when he saw Uma. She smiled back. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Jonas just finished the tattoo,” Harriett replied.

“So you actually got it done? This early? Doesn’t that run the risk of infection?” Uma had asked (read: intimidated) the nurses for Harry’s medical records, and she had practically memorized them at this point. She could tell Harry all of the ingredients used in his medications, but she also took to frequently quoting the risks of every decision he made. It was annoying, but it was also endearing. Harry loved that Uma cared that much. Every day, the horrible version of Uma that still haunted Harry’s dreams was less and less believable.

“The doctors said it would be alright, since the wound’s actually healed,” Harriet supplied. “The issue is that it would hurt like a bitch, but that was an Auradon estimate.”

“Eh, I’ve been stabbed,” Harry joked, winking at Uma. “That hurt worse.”

Uma giggled. Harry laughed under his breath at how cute Uma’s nose was when it was scrunched up, ducking his head. When he raised it again, Jonas and Harriett were staring at him with expressions that Harry couldn’t quite place. Harriett looked seasick.

Jonas cleared his throat, putting the last of the plastic bandages over the tattoo. “So that’s done. Keep these on for twenty-four hours, and then lightly wash. I’ll leave instructions with the nurses, too. Harriett? Interested in getting out for a bit?”

“Bloody hell yes,” his sister said. “Harry I’ll be back tomorrow, all right? And I’ll bring CJ. Have fun, bye Uma!”

In less than ten seconds, Harriett and Jonas had bolted from the room.

Uma watched the two make their way down the hallway before turning to Harry, frowning. “What was that all about?”

Harry shrugged. “No idea. How was school?”

Uma tossed her textbooks onto the chair, huffing and jumping onto Harry’s bed. “Most of it’s fine, but that Remedial Goodness class _will_ be the end of me; I bet you’ll hate it. Gil’s acing it, of course.”

She shoved him to the side, making room for her to stretch out across the bed. “I will never get over how soft beds are here. Do you remember that one time, when we were making the hammocks? We found those old blankets…”

Harry pushed himself onto his side, looking at Uma as she talked. Her hair was bright teal, helping to highlight the teal eyeliner around her eyes (which Harry proudly noted wasn’t as perfect as the job he did). Uma’s voice was warm and melodic, drifting over him as she told the story, accompanied by hand movements and smiles. She was so happy. Harry knew the way they’d ended up in Auradon wasn’t exactly her plan, but they’d managed. Now they were the happiest they’d ever been.

“Harry?”

He blinked out of his thoughts, seeing Uma staring at him, worried. “Yes, love?”

Uma rolled her eyes and smacked his arm. “Shut up, Hook. You went off into your own world. You okay? It wasn’t another vision, was it?”

Harry smiled. _She cares so much_. “No, it wasn’t. The meds are good, I promise. I was just…thinking.”

Uma smiled back. “I’m glad. Now come on, show me the tattoos.”

Harry proudly showed her his arms. His left, the worst one, was now covered by waves, the scars barely visible now underneath the blue ink. On his right, in large lettering, was ‘we ride with the tide.’

“Harry…” Uma was silent, staring at the tattoos in wonder. “They’re beautiful.” She rested her hand on the wrap. “Wait, is that my handwriting?”

“Aye, it is. When I told Jonas what I wanted, he took photos of the graffiti on the Isle to use, like as stencils. The best one was based on the one you wrote on the dock, when we were like, twelve.”

Uma grinned. “That was a good day. We swam with the sharks, remember?”

“ _You_ swam with the sharks,” Harry corrected. “I was busy trying to not get eaten.”

“Finn wouldn’t have,” Uma dismissed. “He’s a sweetheart.”

“The fact that you named him is concerning. And he is not a sweetheart, he is terrifying.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be afraid of crocodiles, not sharks?”

“Oh sod off.”

Uma laughed. “In all seriousness though. What made you decide to get tattoos?”

Harry shrugged. “I dunno. I wanted to stop looking at the scars, but I wanted to remember…the Isle, the visions. It was a dark time, and I didn’t think I would survive. But I did. And the crew, being a pirate, you…that helped a lot. I want to remember what helped get me through it.”

Uma pulled his arm into a hug. “Help. I’ll always help you, Harry. Past, present, and future.”

Harry felt the warmth running through him again, the warmth that was always with Uma. He moved so that they were hugging each other, and closed his eyes. He was at peace.

\----

There was a loud banging on his office door. Jiminy frowned, looking at the clock. It was five p.m. on a Friday, and he had no clients. But the banging persisted, so he stood up and opened the door.

He was met with a flustered Harry Hook, his hair a mess and his eyes wild.

“Harry?” Jiminy asked. “Are you alright?”

Harry nodded, catching his breath. “Yeah…yeah I’m fine um…” His eyes darted around, nervous and tense. Jiminy hadn’t seen the young man this upset throughout any of their sessions.

“You’re in a safe place, Harry. Just remember that.” Jiminy smiled, hoping he could put Harry’s fears to rest.

“Can we talk about love?” Harry blurted out.

Jiminy was surprised, but kept his expression pleasant. “Of course we can. Come in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought of this chapter, or the work as a whole! Until next time 😊


	13. Returning

“And I brought sunglasses for you. They’re Jay’s, but I thought it would help because it’s super bright outside. They actually make glasses for the sun! Auradon’s amazing, Harry.”

Harry took the glasses from Gil, smiling his thanks. The two were sitting in the hospital entrance, waiting for Harriett to come with the discharge papers that meant Harry could leave. It had been a month, and Harry was itching to get out and actually explore. He’d return to the hospital twice a week for therapy with Jiminy, but everyone – the doctors, his friends, and he himself – was ready for the next step.

Indeed, Harry thought, stepping into the outdoors flanked by Harriet and Gil on either side, Auradon was amazing. It was unbearably bright, so he was thankful for the glasses, but it was still such a…happy place. From the buildings, to the people, to the bloody shrubs, everything emitted joy. It was infectious – Harry felt on the edge of his seat, ready to experience a new situation without the threat of mortal peril.

It was a short walk to the school, filled with Gil’s description of the foods in the cafeteria. When they made their way into the dorms, Harriet said her goodbyes, hugging Harry before reminding him of the video call with all three Hook siblings later that night. Gil led Harry down the hallways, still rambling, but Harry didn’t tune out. He enjoyed seeing his friend this excited.

“And we’re rooming together! I didn’t really know what to do about decorating, but Evie and Uma helped so I think it turned out pretty good. We were just waiting on you to come for your final approval, so then…”

Harry turned to Gil as his friend trailed off, suddenly looking at the ceiling and attempting to not look suspicious, which of course failed miserably. Gil was not known for his subtlety.

“Aye, Gil?” Harry asked. “Then wha’ will we be doing?”

Gil’s eyes widened, before once again attempting to mold his face into a neutral expression. “Nothing!” His voice was higher than CJ’s, so Harry knew something was up.

“Gil…” Harry warned. 

Gil practically raced to the door on his right, babbling. “Oh look, this is our room! So we just open the door here and-“

Gil grabbed Harry’s arm, pulling the younger pirate towards him and shoving him through the door – _seriously Gil we have to stop with the shoving_ –

“Surprise!”

Uma, Ben, Audrey, Jane, Doug, Chad, Evie and the rest of Mal’s gang were all standing in the middle of the room. It was painted navy blue, with large windows that streamed light into the room. One side, which Harry assumed was Gil’s, was plastered with pictures of Auradon and all of the ones the crew had managed to take on the Isle. The other had maps from the old days, ones Harry was still proud of his ability to read, along with a couple of pictures of him with the Smee twins, his sisters, and the crew.

“Gil, he doesn’t look surprised!” Oddly enough, it was Evie who was scolding Gil. “Did you tell him?”

“He didn’t have to,” Harry replied. “He was nervous while we were walking.”

“I tried!” Gil protested.

“Oh.” Evie pouted, looking disappointed.

“Who cares?” Uma said. “You’re officially out of the hospital!” She strode forward, hugging Harry before gesturing to the room. “Also, isn’t this amazing? We spent ages decorating it for you!”

“We?” Harry asked.

“It was a group effort,” Evie chimed in. “Uma and Gil came up with the theme, and then I helped find most of the pieces.”

“I got the maps from the Nautical Museum here,” Ben said.

“I suggested the make-up counter,” Audrey added timidly. Harry grinned at her; make-up had been what cemented their friendship during their shared time at the hospital.

“And-“ Evie turned, throwing open the closet doors to reveal clothes crammed into every corner. “-I made all of these! They’re Isle-style, but more functional for Auradon. There are pajamas, and regular clothes, and formal wear. So you don’t have to wear…that.” Evie waved her hand at Harry’s clothes, her nose scrunched up in disdain.

“Wha’s wrong with these?” Sure, Harry wasn’t wearing the most fashionable outfit ever, but the black jeans, white shirt, and gray jacket the hospital had given him weren’t awful.

“Everything,” Evie said through gritted teeth. “ _Everything_.”

The room fell awkwardly silent.

“Okay,” Jay cleared his throat, moving on. “Well, welcome back Hook. We’re glad you’re doing better.”

Harry nodded. “Thanks, Jay. And seriously, thanks to everyone for doing this.”

“Of course, Harry,” Ben said. “You’re one of us.”

\----

Classes, as much as Harry wanted to hate them, were fun. Math was still terrible, but he was managing – the teachers were prepped on the different disabilities Isle kids had, and seemed willing to make the effort to help, which was huge. The other required courses were fine, no biggie (he agreed with Uma though, Remedial Goodness made him want to pull his hair out). His nautical electives were the most enjoyable – as much as Harry had hated his dad’s lessons throughout his life, he had to admit that they were useful, considering that Harry was best in class with minimal effort. He just knew how to do it; he could fix ships, read maps, and navigate journeys in his sleep.

Even the interactions between the Isle and Auradon citizens were going fairly well. There were always the few who still didn’t trust the Isle kids, but overall Ben and Uma had been pleased with the efforts of the integration project.

One of those continually annoyingly-principled Auradonians was Michael Darling III, who was apparently the younger brother of the Darling Harriett had pushed into the sea. So his and Harry’s relationship was already strained, and it had not gotten better. Therefore, Harry wasn’t really surprised when one day, in the middle of Swords and Shields practice, Michael yelled out, “Hey Hook! Is it true you tried to kill yourself?”

 _For fuck’s sake_.

Rolling his eyes, Harry turned around and sheathed his sword. In his peripheral, Harry could see Gil, Jay, and Carlos moving towards him, which made him slightly more comfortable. At least it wasn’t him against the world.

“Michael!” Lonnie snapped, standing up from where she had been fixing equipment. “That’s not appropriate.”

Michael put his hands up, like he was surrendering. “Just asking, coach. Aren’t we supposed to be getting to know the Isle kids?”

_vile little shite, deserves to get hit, enemy, rip his throat out_

“Michael…“ Jay said, obviously trying to de-escalate the situation.

Harry sighed. “Relax, Jay, it’s fine.” He looked at Michael. “Not that it’s any of your business, but yes. One of the wonderful wee side effects of being cursed by Neverland.” Harry smiled his Isle smile, the one that made everyone take a step back and reevaluate the idea of starting a fight with him. By the expression on Michael’s face, it was working.

Michael swallowed, but recovered, stepping forward into Harry’s personal space. “And? So we’re just letting crazy people roam Auradon with no supervision?”

“Dude,” Carlos interjected.

Harry just rolled his eyes again, stepping closer to Michael. _I’m the one that gets in people’s personal space_. “Once again, Darling, it is none of your business, but I’m on medication. Shame though, I’d love to hook ya.”

“Harry.” Gil’s disappointed hiss meant that Harry wasn’t helping the situation, but that actually made Harry feel better.

Michael took a step back. “Are you threatening me?”

Harry stepped forward again. “Listen, _Darling_.” Michael stumbled back, but Harry closed the distance between them. He was aware of the others worriedly watching, but he didn’t really care. “I spent seventeen years on an Isle where it was kill or be killed. And I survived. So I don’t need to make threats. If you piss me off, you’ll know when I attack.” Harry leaned forward, almost enjoying Michael’s fear. “Understood, love?”

Watching Michael’s face contort into fury was the most entertainment Harry had had in weeks. “You-yo-you’re fucking crazy, Hook. Your whole family is. The next time you try to off yourself, do us all a favor and be successful, alright?”

Before he even could think about it, Harry had used his knee to knock Michael’s sword out of his hand and shoved Michael against the wall, Harry’s forearm acting as a way to keep the other boy pinned. Vaguely, Harry was aware of people saying things, probably telling him to stop.

_rip his throat out he deserves it enemy enemy enemy_

Harry dropped his arm. Michael sunk down to the ground, coughing and cowering away from Harry, fear in his eyes.

“Bloody hell,” Harry scoffed. “You’re pathetic. If you’re going to say shite like that, at least be prepared for the reaction.” With that, Harry walked away. He didn’t feel like dealing with this.

\----

“Walking away was the right decision, Harry.”

Harry sat on the windowsill of Jiminy’s office, staring out at the ocean in the distance. He sighed. “I know. It still pissed me off.”

“And I’m not surprised it did,” Jiminy continued. “It’s shitty, to be told you’re nothing more than your curse, and to be judged only by that standard.”

Harry turned towards his therapist, eyebrow raised. “Didn’t know you were one to swear.”

Jiminy chuckled. “There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me, Harry. We do only see each other for two hours a week.”

“True.”

“Anyways, let’s not distract from the point of this. You’ve come a long way.”

Harry shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

“There’s no guessing, you have.” Jiminy was quietly smiling, the way he always did when he thought Harry was selling himself short. “You told me yourself that on the Isle, you learned to fight as a first reaction, otherwise you didn’t survive. You’ve spent your whole life adapting and fine-tuning that instinct so it’s the only response you think of. And it’s an instinct that you will have for the rest of your life. But you didn’t follow that instinct yesterday, you walked away from it.”

“He just wasn’t worth it,” Harry said. He fiddled with the rings on his fingers.

“No, he wasn’t,” Jiminy agreed. “And you didn’t bother with him. Be proud of yourself for that Harry.”

And deep down inside, Harry was.

\----

Ben walked down the hill to the enchanted lake, completely on autopilot considering he’d only had three hours of sleep the night before. It had been a productive day though, Ben remembered wistfully, so the lack of sleep was worth it. He made his way onto the ruined gazebo, blissfully planning his next three hours of free time. He wanted to swim, and then maybe he’d nap. And then dinner with Mal, which would be great. And then that, he could go to sleep, for real.

But when he walked to the edge of the water, there was someone there.

“Hello, Beasty-boy.”

Ben smiled. At least this person was a friend. “Hey, Harry.”

The pirate smiled back, looking like the happiest person in the world as he splashed around in the water. “Comin’ round for a swim, yeah?”

Ben nodded, methodically taking off his jacket and shirt. “Thought I might. Is it cool if I join you?”

“Course, love. Leave your stuff by mine.” Harry nodded his head towards the pile of clothes on the side that Ben hadn’t noticed. Ben stripped down into his swim trunks before tossing his clothes next to Harry’s, before noticing there were a _lot_ of clothes in the pile.

“Harry,” Ben squeaked, “are you naked?”

Harry took one look at Ben’s face of horror and burst out laughing. And kept laughing. And kept – it wasn’t that funny!

“St-stop that!” Ben cried, trying to regain some dignity. “It was a legitimate question!”

Harry finally stopped, taking deep, gasping breaths to try to calm down. “Bloody hell Ben. Wow. And no, I’m not.” Harry stood up out of the water, revealing his own swim trunks.

Ben nodded in relief. “Good.” He jumped in the water, surfacing to see Harry just floating in the water, staring up and the sky. Ben swam over, treading water next to Harry.

“How’d you find this place?” Ben asked.

“Uma,” Harry replied. “She said you told her about it.”

“I did,” Ben confirmed. The two sat in the water in silence for a few moments, just enjoying the water, before Ben spoke again.

“I hear about what happened at Swords and Shields practice.”

Harry groaned, moving so that he could look directly at Ben. “Am I in trouble?”

“No,” Ben answered truthfully. “Fairy Godmother will probably want to talk about it, but no one’s going to fault you for reacting that way. And Michael’s a bit of a dick anyway.”

Harry chuckled at that, which made Ben smile. He was happy to see the pirate doing well after what Ben had started calling ‘the spell incident.’

“I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you,” Ben continued. “There’s new legislation that I’ve been drafting that I wanted your opinion on.”

Harry raised his eyebrow. “Is Auradon suddenly making laws on flirting?”

Ben laughed. “I wish. No. It’s…it’s a law about mental health. It requires citizens to undergo mental health evaluations at key transition points, and adds ideas about treatment and support.” He stared directly at Harry. “Auradon screwed up, and they-we failed you, Harry. And I’m sorry about that. But I’m hoping to make real change. To make sure we don’t repeat these mistakes.”

Harry nodded, flipping his hair away from his face. “You’re a good person Ben. Auradon’s lucky to have you fighting for it. Whatever you want help with, I’m in.”

The two smiled at each other before relaxing into the water.

“Uma and I want to call it Hook’s Law,” Ben found himself saying, slowly grinning.

“You little shites,” Harry said, standing up before launching himself at Ben. Ben laughed, trying to fight back, but Harry quickly dunked Ben into the water. As Harry swam away, laughing, Ben followed, trying to get Harry back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Let me know what you thought of this chapter, or the whole work! Until next time 😊


	14. Uma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The moment you've all been waiting for...drumroll...

Uma propped herself up onto her elbows, squinting out at the sand and regretting the fact she didn’t bring sunglasses. Ben’s suggestion of a beach day had truly been the best thing she’d heard all week, and from what Uma could see, they had all needed it.

Ben, Gil, and Chad were involved in some version of beach-tourney, tossing the ball in between obstacles they’d created out of the sand. Mal and Evie were huddled under an umbrella, the former already burning like a lobster and the latter focused on not having wrinkles. Jane, Lonnie and Audrey were next to them, sunning and gossiping about some event they were attending in the next few weeks. Jay and Carlos had disappeared, claiming they’d gone off to go get food, but Uma – and everyone else – was perfectly aware that they were finding a private spot to make out.

Uma turned towards the water, where Harry was playing with the Smee twins. The younger boys hadn’t been allowed in the hospital, everyone worried about their reactions, and hence the twins had been inconsolable, frequently proclaiming how much they missed Harry. Since Harry had come to school, the twins had refused to let him out of their sight.

Currently, the two had made it their mission to tackle Harry into the water, jumping on him in an effort to knock him over (which would work if the Smee twins weren’t barely a hundred pounds each). Harry was laughing and joking with the kids, which warmed Uma’s heart. She was so happy that Harry was happy, that he was enjoying life.

Uma laughed as a well-timed wave swept Harry’s feet out from underneath him, the twins cheering at their successful mission. Harry surfaced, spluttering and pushing his hair out of his face. For once, his makeup hadn’t run, and Uma was oddly thankful to Audrey for introducing Harry to waterproof eyeliner.

“Uma!” Harry cried. “You must save me from the dastardly Smees!”

Uma laughed again at his melodramatics, but did stand up and make her way down the water. The twins were still clinging to Harry, talking in a weird mix of English and the random Gaelic they’d learned off of the Hooks, but when they saw Uma approaching, they ran off, giggling to themselves.

Harry spat sea water out of his mouth. “They’re bastards, but I love them.”

“They look up to you,” Uma said honestly. “And yeah, they were raised by Smee, you and Harriett. Of course they’re going to be little shits.”

Harry laughed, standing up so that he was at his full height, which was much taller than Uma. “Aye.” He leaned on Uma’s shoulder, making that face he always made when he was flirting. “And may I just say, you look ravishing today.”

Uma opened her mouth to tell Harry to piss off, like she always did when he was flirting, but instead she found herself saying, “Harry you don’t have to do that anymore.”

Harry immediately stood up and moved his arm off of her. “What do you mean?”

Uma was internally screaming at herself to shut up, but once she’d said it, she couldn’t stop talking. “You don’t have to keep putting me up on some pedestal, complementing me and flirting with me. You’re in Auradon, you’re on the meds, you’re doing well. You don’t have to keep me in a good mood.”

Harry’s mouth was open in what looked like surprise, though Uma doubted it was. He stood still, staring at her.

“Uma…” Harry’s voice was quiet as he pulled his hands into his side. “Did you think I did all of that…just so you would help me?”

Uma didn’t understand how he was having trouble making the connection. “I mean, yeah. You flirt with everyone to get what you want Harry. I never bothered to pretend I was any different. We’re friends, and I know we’re nothing more.”

She turned away. Surprisingly, telling Harry the truth they’d all avoided hurt more than expected. But it was good. Now that it was all in the open, Harry could move on, and Uma could-

She felt Harry’s hand on her arm, but before she could object, he had turned her around, wrapping his arms around her. She looked up, to try and argue that a hug wasn’t going to fix anything-

Harry kissed her. And Uma, who usually had an answer and biting retort to everything, could only think, over and over, _he tastes like salt water_.

When their lips separated Uma found herself moving closer, because _that was nice I want more of that_ but she stopped, staying still as she stared at Harry.

“Uma I love you,” Harry said. “We have been in each other’s lives for years, and I have never been able to tell you because I didn’t know how. But you were there for me, every day. You were amazing and fearless and bold and I always knew I would follow you to the ends of the earth. That’s what we thought a captain and first mate would do for each other, but apparently in Auradon they call it love, and if that’s love then I bloody love you. I love you so, so much and I never could imagine being in love with anyone else. And if I ever made you think I was only yours because you told me what was real than I am so sorry because that’s bull. I am yours, forever, because _I bloody love you_.”

Vaguely, Uma was aware that her mouth was wide open in shock. _He loves me_. She couldn’t think of anything to say, there was just silence in her brain, but she managed.

“Kiss me again, Hook.”

Harry burst into a smile, and not his Isle smile that was supposed to intimidate, his real smile, the one she’d only ever seen on rare occasions but made the warm bubbly feeling in her heart grow until it consumed every part of her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and did as she ordered. Uma jumped up so that she could wrap her legs around Harry’s hips. He adjusted his grip on her and Uma threw her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

In between the kisses, in the short breaths they were taking, Uma said, “I love you too Harry.”

Harry’s grin grew, if that was even possible, and he pressed a kiss to Uma’s nose. She laughed at that and moved to kiss him again. She could kiss him all day, she reflected.

The two eventually broke apart for air, unable to contain their grins. As Uma stared into Harry’s eyes, she suddenly became aware of the cheering and wolf-whistles – _who the fuck wolf-whistled –_ from the beach. She turned, frowning, to see all of their friends watching, though thankfully Evie and Jane were covering the Smee twins’ eyes.

“I knew it!” Gil cheered.

“Kiss her again!” Audrey yelled.

Uma opened her mouth to yell something back, something witty hopefully, but before she could Harry had captured her mouth in another kiss, to yet more cheers. When they broke apart, Uma honestly could not pay attention to anything other than the dark blue flecks in Harry’s eyes.

She loved him so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! We're winding down to the final part of this story, so let me know what you thought of this chapter, or the whole fic so far! Until next time 😊


	15. (18)

The warmth emanating next to him pulled Harry back into consciousness. As he slowly woke up, he could hear the whispered conversation happening near him.

“They’ve got most of it, but they’re having problems setting up the sails. Apparently, Harry’s usually the one who starts it off.”

“Well that’s a problem, isn’t it, when Harry’s the only one who can’t get involved?”

“Jonas is asking if you can come down to help.”

“No I can’t help! Neither can you Gil! We’re the distraction for the rest of the day, remember?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

“Well, what if you slipped out now and ran back quickly? Harry sleeps like the dead, even more now with the meds.”

“I would if I could! Gil you literally saw him wrap his arm around me last night. I have not moved since. If I move, he _will_ wake up. Ask Harriett, or Murph, or literally any of the at least thirty sailors we know!”

Still half-asleep, Harry gradually remembered that the warmth next to him was an actual person. Uma had crashed in his bed last night, too tired to walk back to her dorm. The two had slept in the same bed before – _The Lost Revenge_ was often crowded, and sharing rooms was a regular activity – but they hadn’t since they were living on the Isle, so Harry had been ecstatic. He’d wrapped his arms around her, and the content he had felt, combined with the drowsy effect of his medication, had put him right to sleep.

Harry moved up onto his shoulder, yawning, and finally opening his eyes. “Morning, love.” He pressed a kiss to Uma’s cheek before lying back down, wrapping the covers around himself. “Wha’s happening with the crew right now?”

Uma turned over to Harry, beaming at him with a smile that made Harry light up. “It’s just a small problem on the docks, that’s all. Jonas is being a baby, but he can handle it.”

Harry looked at Gil, because Uma was very good at lying, but Gil didn’t seem to be nervous or stressed with Uma’s explanation. “A’ight. And no offense, but why are we all standing ‘round here? We waiting fo’ something?”

Uma rolled her eyes, but almost in an endearing way. “Harry, don’t you remember the date?”

“You already know the answer’s no.”

“It’s your birthday.”

 _Oh_.

Harry’s birthday had never been anything important on the Isle; at the most, it was a day where he didn’t have as many duties and he got extra food at dinner. For the first few years, he hadn’t even known when it was. It had been Harriett who had told him, rather unceremoniously, to have a good sixth birthday. Oddly enough, Uma had made the biggest fuss about birthdays. She had a ledger in her cabin that kept all of the crews’ written down, and religiously made that day special for them.

Gil suddenly broke the silence. “Happy birthday Harry!”

Harry laughed. “Thanks, Gil.”

Uma checked her phone before turning back to Harry, ruffling his hair. “C’mon. Gil and I have the whole day planned, and it needs to start before the cafeteria closes for breakfast. I’m starving.”

\----

“You need to wear this.”

Harry opened his eyes from where he was lying on the grass to see Uma holding a black piece of fabric out to him. She was sitting up against the tree, her face fixed in the expression that Harry had started to associate with stubbornness and determination.

“Kinky.”

Uma slapped his arm, but from the small grin he could tell she was slightly amused. “No. None of that. Now put it on.”

“Aye, captain.” Harry smiled to himself but did as she asked, loosely tying it over his eyes.

“Harry you’re going to be the death of me.” Uma huffed, and through the blindfold, Harry could see her moving. Before he could protest, Uma had undone his knot and retied the fabric much tighter, so that Harry couldn’t see anything.

“But you still love me,” he replied, smirking.

There was a moment of silence before Harry felt Uma kissing his check. “Yes, I do.”

No matter how many times Harry heard it, Uma’s declaration of love never failed to make his heart race. It still shocked him, that they could freely say it to each other, that they could do the things they’d only dreamed about on the Isle.

He felt Uma’s hand wrapping around his arm, directing him to his feet. “Gil and I are here. You can probably sense us, anyway. We’re gonna direct you, okay?”

Holding his hand, Uma directed Harry…somewhere, he couldn’t see. He could sense Gil next to him on the opposite side, and generally, Harry had a good feeling for when he was about to walk into a building (which was good because Uma had no clue), but he couldn’t see anything. The only clue he got to the new location was the smell of salt in the air.

“Uma…you’re not making me walk the plank, aye?”

Uma snorted, and even Gil giggled at that. Harry had said it as a joke, but as he felt the wood of a ship under his feet, he was increasingly unsure.

“No, Harry, we’re not. In fact…” Uma’s hand left his as he sensed her reaching for the tie of the blindfold.

“Happy birthday!”

As the blindfold was pulled off of his eyes, Harry took in _The Lost Revenge_. It was gorgeous. Everything seemed to be new; the ropes definitely were, Harry couldn’t see any fraying, and the sails practically sparkled. Fairy lights hung from the booms, softly glowing as the sun was setting. Standing on deck was both Uma and Harriett’s crews, along with Mal’s gang and several of the Auradonians. There was a table packed with food and small wrapped packages.

“We planned it all!” Gill was practically beaming, bouncing back and forth on the balls of his feet. “And I didn’t say anything about it! And look! The ship is in Auradon!”

Harry stood there, silent in his shock as he took it all in. He’d never believed that the ship would be fit to float unassisted again, let alone actually sail.

“Wow,” he breathed.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

Harry turned to see Uma, smiling just as much as he was. “Ben said we couldn’t be real pirates without a working ship, so here we are. Your birthday was the closest of the crews, so we figured, why not have the unveiling?”

“It’s everything we ever wanted,” Harry agreed.

\----

“So what’s it like being eighteen?”

Harry looked up from where he had been leaning against the deck, staring out into the sea. The party was in full swing, Auradon and Isle traditions molding together as the night darkened. Harriett was smiling at Harry. Despite all the changes he’d seen his sister go through in the past few weeks, she was still wearing the blue bandana Harry had given her when they were little. It was a comforting familiarity that Harry was happy to have near him. In answer to her question, Harry shrugged.

“It’s the same as every other day, I guess. ‘Cept now I can drink.”

Harriet scoffed at that. “You’ve been drinking since you were eight, it’s not much of a milestone.”

Harry found himself laughing. “Aye, but the Isle had a different way of life.”

“That it did.” True to form, Harriett had her flask in hand, and passed it to Harry. The routine was well-practiced between the siblings. They both stared out at the sea, silent, just taking in each other’s presence. Harriett ruffled Harry’s hair, messing it up more than normal, until it fell by her side.

“I didn’t think I’d make it to eighteen,” Harry whispered. It had been in the back of his mind all day, but he hadn’t had the courage to voice the thought until that moment. To her credit, Harriett didn’t react, other than grabbing the flask to drink.

“I’m glad you did,” she replied.

The two fell silent again, the sea breeze floating between them. Harry could feel his heart pounding, whether from fear or from excitement he didn’t know.

“Thank you,” Harry said. “For everything.”

“I’d do it all again.” Harriett fixed him with a piercing expression. “You’re my baby brother, Harry. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

And Harry knew that – she’d saved him countless times, and fought battles he couldn’t. He could feel his cheeks heating up and quickly ducked his gaze, choosing to stare at the water below him. “I can’t repay you, for what you did. But I’ll be grateful forever.”

Harry didn’t know what he had expected – teasing, a slap, or some biting comment – but Harriett tugging him close to her and hugging him was not it. Still, he wrapped his arms around his sister and pressed his face into her shoulder.

“You can repay me by doing more than staying alive.” Harriett’s voice was amused, but her serious tone stood out. “You’re doing good, Harry. Live a little. Go to classes, explore, be with Uma. Enjoy it all.”

“I will,” he promised.

\----

Uma pulled Harry away from the party, along the docks. With a quick order to ditch his jacket and boots, Harry watched as Uma did the same before jumping into the dark water. Harry rolled his eyes – she truly couldn’t stand being out of the water, ever – but followed suit. The water was freezing, but Uma didn’t seem the slightest bit bothered.

“Come in further!” she called.

Harry did, swimming out farther past the dock until he was treading water next to Uma. She was grinning, the water around her following her movements. “It’s bloody cold.”

“Then I’ll warm you up,” Uma joked. Harry laughed and swam closer to her.

“So, why are we out in the water?” he asked.

“I hid my present for you out here,” Uma answered. “Ben said it’s important to hide birthday presents, and we’re always in each other’s space.”

With that, Uma dived down under the waves. Harry knew there was no point in following her – Uma could hold her breath for hours – so he stayed where he was, floating over the waves. After what felt like hours, but was probably ten minutes, Uma resurfaced, her hair plastered to her face and something clasped in her hand.

“Hold your hand out,” Uma told him.

Harry could feel a smile growing on his face, and did as she asked. Uma smiled in return and placed her gift in Harry’s palm. Harry’s first thought was that it felt like nothing was there. He looked down to see a bracelet of small red beads, all held together by black cord woven through the delicate holes.

“I hope you like it,” Uma said. “I lost the original bracelet in the sea during those six months, and yours fell off…in the forest, so I figured we should replace them.”

“Uma…” Harry found himself at a loss for words, instead choosing to slip the bracelet on his wrist. “It’s beautiful. This must have taken ages…” He turned it over, noticing one bead had been painted teal. Looking up, Harry saw Uma biting back a grin as she held up her wrist, revealing a matching bracelet with all the beads painted teal except for one, painted red. “Thank you.”

Uma surged forward, kissing him hard. Harry replied in kind. Too occupied with kissing his girlfriend, Harry forgot to keep himself above water. The two sunk down further, still kissing until Harry ran out of air and had to surface.

Harry smiled at Uma as she rose above the water. Holding her hand, he swam with her towards the shore, no longer cold. This was good, Harry thought. He was able to be free, to play around with the girl he loved, to not worry about the voices in his head.

They were going to be okay. He was going to be okay.

Better than okay.

 _Real_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you go! That's the end of this story. Thank you to all of you guys, your support of this story has meant a lot to me, and I hope you all enjoyed it greatly!


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